


Ghosts 2

by LunaraAssassin



Category: Call of Duty
Genre: Betrayal, Brainwashing, Cheating, Evil, F/M, Gun Violence, I'm Bad At Tagging, Love Triangles, Missions, Physical Abuse, Plot Twists, Seduction, Sex, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2018-05-11 09:27:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 33
Words: 54,535
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5622106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaraAssassin/pseuds/LunaraAssassin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hesh will do anything to get Logan back, but when someone walks into his life that Logan and his father had known for years, he begins to question everything. He doesn't realize it at first, but he finds someone he will fight with Logan over. </p><p>My own writing of Call of Duty: Ghosts 2. I've been writing this since I finished the game three years ago. I own nothing of Call of Duty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Failed Rescue.......and a Girl?

-Sometime in the future-

The rain pattered down in the rainforest softly, like a symphony of tapping on the leaves. Hoots seemed to echo through as monkeys went into their trees for cover. Birds were hiding in their nests, trying to stay dry. Crows, however, sat in the trees, cawing as they usually did. They had migrated, which was odd, into the rainforests. Through the mist of the rain, a single man walked. He had a tan bandanna on and camouflaged shirt and pants. His army boots made heavy squishing sounds as he walked through the mud. He also appeared to be limping, struggling a bit with getting through the trees and over the roots. Stopping, the man found what he was looking for: a hole in the ground. The hole was grated over with iron bars. It was made so nothing could get in, or out. He knelt down and looked in. The dim light made the hole seem darker than it truly was, but there was just enough to make out everything inside. A figure was curled up in the corner. It was a girl, but it was almost too hard to tell because of the mud covering her. He smirked and watched as the she shivered, too weak to try and pull more mud to her to gain more warmth. The man in the tan bandana made a small whistle. Gathering her strength, the young lady looked up at the man.

“Are you ready to give him up?” the man asked. She stared at the man; her faded blue eyes were dim and unhappy. The seconds dragged on as she seemed to be thinking before she gave a slow nod.

“Good,” the man smirked as he took out the key to the grate. The girl shivered and struggled to pull herself up. Once she was up on her feet, she swayed a bit, looking up at the man. “Logan may have gotten away from me because of you, but I assure you that you won’t run from me,” the man smirked. The girl simply blinked her eyes again with a nod, her mind and body broken into his will. The man knelt down, unlocking the rusted lock on the grate and stood up, staring at her. She was a beautiful girl, but now she was his and he intended to use his new weapon to kill.

 

-Long before this-

"Logan!" was the last thing Logan Walker heard from his older brother David "Hesh" Walker. Logan and his brother were being separated, by force. Logan tried clawing at the ground, for some type of grip so he wouldn’t be taken away. He could only use his left arm to claw because the man dragging him had broken his right arm. Logan looked back over his shoulder at the man who was taking him away. The man’s name was Rorke. He was an ex-Ghost brainwashed into wanting to destroy all the Ghost operatives. Logan looked around, trying to find something to help him stop Rorke. He was able to grip a rock with his left hand and hold himself to it for a moment. Rorke, in anger, grabbed Logan’s right broken arm and squeezed, causing extreme pain and making him release the rock.

"We're going to destroy the Ghosts, Logan. Don't fight me," Rorke said. Logan said nothing, but looked desperately back at the beach where his brother lay, still yelling his name. Rorke noticed this and knew Logan wouldn't stop fighting so he let go for a moment, came around in front of him and smashed his fist into Logan's face, knocking him out.

Logan started to dream. He dreamt about his father and the Ghost story. The Ghosts were an elite squad of military that was assigned to the most covert and stealthy missions that the United States needed done. They were nicknamed Ghosts while their official names were the Stalkers. They were from a Tier 1 team. The Tier teams had gotten together to protect a civilian hospital from an overwhelming enemy. As the time had past, the Tier had been cut down to 15 people. They knew they wouldn’t last another night and so did the enemy. They let one of their own evacuate and lead the civilians away. The rest laid under the bodies of the dead and the blood from their dead comrades spilt all over them. They waited until the enemy came close and attacked, their stealth was impossible to beat and they wiped out the enemy. A single enemy escaped from them and was found wandering the desert near where his comrades fell. He claimed of a force that was so unbeatable, he described it as a single word: Ghosts. That was their beginning. The Ghosts, or “Stalkers”, quickly became the force that was to be sent if there was no other way of winning.

Logan then dreamt about the story his father, Elias Walker, and the story he had told them about Rorke and when they lost him. Rorke had supposedly “died” in a mission that he had begged for. They had gone after the Federation leader. The Federation had been established after the deserts of the Middle East ran dry of oil and the powers of the world, which depended on them, collapsed. They started in South America and devoured the entire continent. They were working north and the US knew they needed something done. Rorke, the leader at the time, convinced Washington to let the Ghosts handle the problem.

They went after the Federation leader. They cornered him in a city and he blew up the dam, flooding the entire city. The Ghosts jumped onto the helicopter he was trying to escape on. Elias shot him, but accidently shot the pilot as well. The copter went down and Rorke got trapped inside. Elias held him up, but if he held on for too long, the entire copter would have fell into the water. So Logan’s father, Elias, let go and Rorke fell into the water. Elias became the leader of the Ghosts then, but went searching for Rorke. He was presumed dead by the government when the Ghosts were brought back after searching for quite a few weeks, but, it turned out, he had been found by the Federation and brainwashed into fighting for them, their own personal Ghost, charged with hunting down the rest of the Ghosts.

That brought Logan to his current problem. Rorke had killed Elias and wanted Logan to be a Ghost hunter with him. His dreams swam around his family and the Ghosts themselves when a person, someone no one else knew about, appeared into Logan’s final dream. He ran toward them in his dream, wanting to hold onto that person, but a sudden darkness started crowding his eyesight and his body became quite heavy. He tripped and fell. He looked up, they were reaching their hand down to him. He reached and reached, but could never grab their hand. He was suddenly pulled away into darkness and it finally darkened his mind into complete sleep.

 

-30 minutes later-

A recon team came walking onto the beach where Hesh lay. Hesh had put out a call to his superior, Merrick, before Rorke had come and had taken Logan. They looked around the beach, glancing up at the destroyed train bridge. Logan, Hesh, and Rorke had been on a train that was struck with a missile from space. The missile was from a Federation satellite that US forces had taken over to use against their enemy. The two Stalkers, Logan and Hesh, had ordered the strike on the train to kill Rorke, as they had made a promise to kill him no matter what. The leader of the team noticed Hesh lying next to a rock; blood was spilt all around him.

"Hesh?" The leader asked, coming up to him. He noticed that the blood was from Hesh, who was bleeding from the gunshot that was supposed to kill Rorke. The closer the leader got to Hesh, the more he noticed how much the Ghost was shivering and shaking. He knelt down and touched Hesh’s shoulder, getting a reaction from him.

"Rorke is alive," Hesh said quietly, looking up at the leader. His gun wound, given when Logan shot Rorke, spilt blood as he sat up. "He dragged Logan away. He dragged my brother away. I promised to always protect him and he took him.........he took my brother..." Hesh said even softer, as the leader of the team realized that Hesh’s mental state appeared extremely fragile at this point. He nodded towards the medics in his team as he stepped back. The medics quickly knelt down, pulling out their supplies and starting to work on stopping the bleeding. 

The leader looked away from Hesh and noticed something in the sand. He knelt down and examined what he saw. They were drag marks, the ones that Logan made while trying to stop Rorke from taking him. He looked back at Hesh and decided to stay with him and the medics as he looked back at a couple of his men. He ordered them to follow the tracks away. He watched the men walk along the line of sand. They stopped when they were about 100 feet away. They turned back and waved, using their radio to tell him what they found.

“There’s tire tracks here. The dragging marks stop at these tracks,” they informed him. The leader gritted his teeth as he told them to follow as much as they could and changed the channel to the main network, where the head of the Ghosts would be listening.

Merrick, the now leader of the Ghosts after Elias, was at the main base, listening as people were cheering over the radio on different channels. Of all the channels though, there was only one that was used for the main reporting. It clicked as someone connected. Merrick sat down, putting on the headset. The leader of the team who had found Hesh explained was was going on. Merrick told the man to get Hesh back to the infirmary. The leader said he would and left the channel. Merrick put his headset back down, leaning back in his chair as he rubbed his forehead. He and Hesh knew that Rorke had taken a very strange interest in Logan for his strength. But they also knew what Rorke was going to do to Logan. He was going to brainwash him.

 

-One year later-

The rain made patters as the drops hit the leaves of the jungle. The sounds of the forest were as they normally were. The rain had lessened in the last 10 minutes, becoming a mist and hiding the operatives in the forest. Hesh listened to the soft sounds of the jungle, thinking back to a year before when he lost Logan. He was currently sitting in the bushes, looking up. As he was doing this, the other Ghosts settled in beside him. Being pulled from his thoughts, he turned and pulled out a pair of binoculars, glancing only at Merrick, who sat beside him.

"Rorke hid himself deep in this Brazilian jungle, but we found him, finally," Hesh said, mostly to himself as he pulled the binoculars up to look through. Ahead, was their target: a prison camouflaged in the jungle. It had guards patrolling the edges and on the roof. After observing this, Hesh looked behind him at the other Ghosts. Kick, Keegan, Merrick, and a few other Ghosts were with him. Hesh sighed. He missed so very greatly turning around and seeing Logan with them. He looked ahead, back at the prison. Logan was in there and they had to rescue him.

Just before Hesh ordered his Ghosts to move in, a sudden movement caught his eye. He looked through his binoculars and zoomed in on the top tower. A guard was walking around it, but someone had dropped on top of him and stabbed his throat. The figure stood up and put a cord around the dead man's neck. It pulled him up into the tree it had jumped out of, hiding the body. It then descended down the side of the tower, taking out a few more guards with seemingly ultimate stealth before sneaking in an open air-vent. Hesh sat thinking before looking over at Merrick.

"We were the only ones assigned to this place, correct?" He asked. Merrick nodded slowly. Hesh looked ahead, wondering if they should go ahead. Memories of Logan made the choice for him. Hesh readied his gun and ordered the Ghosts to move in. The group of elite assassins slid down the side of the hill and cut the fence that kept people out. Sneaking through, they spotted a few guards ahead, chatting right next to the door to get in. There was a window above them that lead into a security video room. Hesh and Kick were the two hackers of the Ghosts, so they needed to get up to the security booth. Keegan and Merrick shot the two guards while two other Ghosts moved ahead and pulled the bodies out of sight. Hesh and Kick threw their grappling hooks up on the roof and pulled, so they were tight. The two climbed up to the window and peaked in.

There were two guards in the room. One was asleep in a chair while the other was sitting back watching the video screens. Knowing they couldn't risk shattering the glass and making too much noise, they noticed a small air vent right above the window and an air vent opening in the room. Hesh hopped up and pulled out the grate. Kick snuck in and Hesh right after. Keegan and Merrick removed the hooks and hid themselves while Kick and Hesh did their work. Hesh pulled the grate out above the guards' heads. They both took out their combat knives and dropped on the guards. Hesh jumped on the man watching the video, cupping his hand around his mouth, and muffling his cries while Hesh sunk his knife into his chest, piercing the heart. It only took a few moments before the guard went limp. Looking up, he saw had Kick killed the one sleeping. Now that the two were finished, they pulled the bodies into a closet and went over to the video. Kick recorded a small bit and put it on a loop while Hesh got a map of the place downloaded into a small handheld GPS.

"I'll stay here and keep the video going. You and the others get Logan," Kick said to Hesh. Hesh nodded and climbed back up into the vent. Just before he was about to head back outside, a soft rustling caught his attention. He glanced at the far end of the vent. A black shadow was sitting there. Before he could do anything, the shadow quickly darted into a side air vent. Sensing that he couldn't waste anymore time, he went back out to the rest of the Ghost team. Hesh jumped down to them and looked to Merrick.

"We need to move quickly. Something was in that air vent and saw me, so keep fingers on the triggers," he said softly, over the radio as well so the other members knew. Kick opened the door below and the group headed in. Step by step, they cleared all areas. Merrick looked over at Hesh.

"Something seems off," he murmured as Hesh cleared another hallway.

"I know, but I can't tell what it is," Hesh replied in another murmur. Hesh checked the map and noticed a room ahead that was oddly marked on the map. They approached the door to that room and Hesh glanced at Merrick, who pulled on the door and found it locked. Hesh knelt down next to the small keypad console and hacked the lock, opening the door. He stood back and nodded at Merrick, who slowly peaked in. What he saw made him sigh and open the door fully.

The sight stopped Hesh cold. It was a torture room and all the instruments were bloodied. The walls were stained with blood, the chair in the middle of the room had blood still pooled on it, small tables with instruments had been pushed to the sides of the room, but one thing stood out to Hesh. Everything was old. The room hadn't been used for a while and the smell helped confirm that. Keegan pointed to the other side of the room, where there was another door. Hesh checked to make sure that he had ammo in his gun. He sensed that there was someone on the other side of the door, even though he had no confirmation that there was. Hesh opened the door and slowly walked in.

They were now in another hallway. Just as the rest of the team slipped through, a guard walked into view at the end of the hallway. He turned, noticed them, and opened his mouth to yell before he was dropped from above. The Ghosts all raised their weapons when this happened. A figure in black military sniper gear removed his knife from the guard's throat. He said something softly and closed the man's eyes. Sensing eyes, he looked up at them. The team aimed at the figure as Hesh took in what he was wearing. The figure was wearing light sniper military gear that was completely black. He had a hood and a mask over his mouth. The shadows from both hid the figure's eyes, but he had a skeleton face painted on his hood and mask. That was only known as a Ghost symbol, but this mysterious character had it. The figure had a sniper slung across his back, a shotgun on his left side hip, a pistol holstered on his chest, and he was returning his combat knife to his right hip as he stood up.

"Who are you?" Merrick asked. The figure said nothing right away and just stared at them. He suddenly stood up a bit taller and looked to the side.

After a few moments he said, very quietly, "They heard your blundering. A few guards are coming. If you guys want Logan, you're going to have to help me." Hesh took a notice that the voice was extremely quiet and almost...feminine? Keegan approached the figure.

"We have many questions for you, but this isn't the time," he said. He picked up the body and dragged him into the torture room. The figure looked at each Ghost member carefully before nodding.

"You'll all fit. Come on," he said before jumping right up into the air vent he had come out of. Keegan shut the door to the room they had just left as everyone climbed up after the figure. Just as Hesh put the grate back in, a couple guards came by, checking out the hallway. The figure tapped the vent and pointed in the direction behind him. He turned around and started crawling through the vent. The Ghosts had lain down and crawled after the figure. He led them through the vents slowly and quietly. Hesh was wondering if they should trust him. He didn’t seem to be with them, yet he looked like them, but he wasn’t selling them out and he had killed some of the enemy guard.

Eventually they stopped over another grate and the figure turned around. He pulled out the knife and nodded to the Ghosts, motioning to their weapons. They were hesitant, but when Hesh pulled out his pistol, they followed suit and began to ready themselves. Voices floated through the grate, showing that people were talking below them. The figure held up his hand and began to count down. Three. Two. One. The figure kicked the grate and jumped down. Each Ghost followed in moments. 

They were in a control room that had very few guards, which was odd, and the figure stabbed a guard in the neck, using his body as a shield as he pulled out his shotgun and shot another guard. The Ghosts began shooting the last few while the figure dropped his body shield and ran at the technician at the controls, grabbing him. The figure shot the other tech, killing him. He held the one tech’s face down on the controls while he hacked into the computer. The mystery figure pulled up the cameras. He flipped through each one while the Ghosts made sure everyone in the room was dead except the one the figure held. He started to murmur in his feminine voice again, “Where’s Logan? He’s not in any of the cameras I had hacked into.” Eventually, the cameras ended up on a helipad, where a helicopter sat waiting. A man was walking across the pad to it when someone ran up to him and whispered in his ear. He turned around and faced the camera. Rorke was the man.

“Hello Ghosts. I figured you be here eventually. Too bad I already knew you were coming. And too bad my dear friend won’t get any practice with you because you’ll already be dead,” Rorke said. He pulled out a small black device in his hand and clicked it. He dropped it on the ground and got into the helicopter. An alarm on the computer console started going off as an automated voice started speaking.

“Self-destruct sequence activated,” the male robotic voice said.

"He set bombs," the figure growled. He pulled the tech up and dragged him along. The Ghosts didn't have a choice; they had to trust the figure. He led them through a door in the control room and down the stairs. There was a huge blast door in front of them and when Merrick started taking out the C4, the figure stopped him.

“We don’t have time for that,” he said as he opened a small panel on the side of the door and pushed the tech forward, using the tech's eye to open the door to the outside. He tossed the tech aside and ran out. Hesh put his gun away and ran in step with the figure, the other Ghosts behind. Hesh got on his radio.

“Kick, get out of the building!” he said into the radio.

“I’m out! A self-destruct alarm started going off and I’m in the jungle! I’ll head toward you!” Kick’s voice was heard over the radio. Just as the small squad reached the forest line, the entire building exploded. The team was knocked off their feet. Hesh’s ears rung and his vision blurred as he hit the ground. He looked up as he saw movement. The figure stood up, staggering a few steps and shaking his head. Hesh tried to get up, but his head hurt badly and his ears were still ringing. The figure turned and looked at them, realizing what had just happened. He started to run when Merrick jumped on him. He held the figure in a vice grip and the figure stayed still, knowing not to fight. Hesh slowly got up and looked down at the masked black person. He leaned down to pull down the hood and the character said, "Please leave my hood up for now. That's my only request." Merrick held the figure's neck and squeezed.

"You're in no place to make requests," he said, reaching for the hood, but Hesh moved forward and stopped him.

"Don't. Just listen to this guy," he said, quietly. Merrick looked at him, confused, but he obeyed and left the figure's hood up. Kick came walking up to them, nodding to Hesh that he was okay when prompted.

Keegan was on the radio, calling in a helicopter to their rendezvous point. Hesh just kept watching the figure they had caught, wondering what on Earth the person was doing here and who it was. A snarling then caught the group's attention. Keegan dropped his radio and readied his gun. Hesh looked around, taking out his knife instead. Kick raised his pistol and the other Ghosts readied for an attack. A wolf jumped out of the bushes and smashed into Merrick, knocking him off the figure. Merrick wrestled with the wolf as the Ghosts tried to shoot it, but the figure jumped on the wolf and pulled it away. He shushed the wolf, even though the wolf whined and pulled back its ears. The Ghosts still aimed at the figure and wolf, but the wolf laid down on the ground with the figure’s prompting and the figure got down on his knees.

"Take us. She won't hurt you unless I tell her to, and I don't want to," the figure spoke softly. Slowly, Hesh approached the two oddities and tied the figure's arms and tied the wolf's legs and mouth. Merrick stood up and picked up the figure, putting him on his shoulder. The person did not object or say anything. Keegan picked up the female wolf and carried her over his shoulder. Hesh started watching the two. The figure, seeming to sense his gaze, looked up, watching Hesh in return. When they came to their exit point, the helicopter was already there. In the helicopter, it was mostly silence. The figure just watched the Ghosts and the Ghosts watched the figure. His wolf lay on the floor next to his legs; she seemed to be protecting the figure even though they meant no harm now.

The helicopter landed at the base that was set up in a desert in Mexico. They had been flying for a couple hours, in which nothing had happened. The figure had stayed quiet and as he had said, the wolf never did anything to anyone, even as they were trying to put a muzzle on the female wolf. Hesh jumped out and looked back as Merrick lead the figure out. He had his hands handcuffed behind his back and Merrick had a hand on his neck. Something was odd about him. He was small, very little built, but his body seemed to move with extreme balance. Hesh watched and listened as they lead him by. Hesh’s Ghost team, the top stealth agents, still made thumps on the ground as they walked, but the figure didn’t make any sense. There weren’t any sounds from the figure’s steps. It was as if he truly was a Ghost. 

Hesh followed the group, watching as they forced the figure into a small interrogation room. Hesh kept moving, to go to the main communications room to give his report of what happened. After the debriefing, Hesh looked to Merrick who had joined him in the room soon after.

“What are we going to do about this agent we picked up during the mission?”

“We are going to interrogate him,” Merrick said as he started to turn to walk away.

“Wait, Merrick. I need to say something.” Merrick stopped and looked at Hesh. “I don’t think that the agent is a he. Something makes me think that it’s actually a girl,” Hesh said, stating his opinion.

“A girl? Hesh, are you sure? Where could, if you say it is a girl, she have gotten the training?” Merrick replied, questioningly.  
“I don’t know. But let me lead the interrogation. I have a feeling that I may be able to get more information than others,” Hesh said, after shrugging in reply to Merrick. Eventually Merrick nodded.


	2. The Interrogation

Hesh walked to the interrogation room, where the agent was sitting, handcuffed to the table. He seemed quite calm and was completely still, not at all freaking out. Hesh opened the door and walked into the room, closing the door behind him. He had an ear bud in his ear so he could hear what questions Merrick wanted him to ask. He sat down in the chair across the table. The agent raised his eyes up at Hesh. He had been relieved of his weapons, but they didn't remove the hood, as that was the only thing the figure had asked for. The two sat looking at each other. Hesh leaned over the table and unlocked the handcuffs. The agent put his hands in his lap and didn’t move beyond that. Merrick criticized Hesh in his ear, but Hesh just ignored him and finally said something.

"How did you know about Logan?" Hesh asked. The agent was silent for a while. He seemed to be studying Hesh.

“Are you Hesh?” the figure asked in his soft voice. Hesh was quiet, wondering if he should trust this agent with his identity. He decided against Merrick, who told him to ignored her questions and continue his questioning, Hesh replied.

“Yes, I am Hesh.”

"I will tell you then. I know who Logan is and why he was at that base. I know because I’ve been looking for him myself. Your father would know, rest his Ghost soul," the figure replied. Hesh sat back at this point, in quiet surprise. "And you, Hesh, don't know me because you weren't with when I met Logan and your father."

The figure then lifted his hand and pulled down the mask over his mouth and then his hood. Hesh felt his heart quicken its pace. A beautiful girl sat in front of him. She pulled the ponytail out of her hair and shook her head, letting her hair flow. She had beautiful long red hair with shimmering blue eyes. She looked at Hesh. "I am a Ghost too, just not formally. Logan met me when he was hunting in the woods with your father. You were sick and had been left home. Logan was hunting a deer that I was as well," she said. She paused with a laugh. "We both jumped at the same deer and it moved, so we jumped into each other. At first, we just talked and then we started to hunt together. That is how Elias found us, hunting together. I became a friend and your father taught me off to the side of you two," she explained. She then sighed.

"I have been working for the Ghosts longer than you, doing Elias’s information hunting. He needed it for many of the missions you went on. But when he stopped contacting me, I looked into it. Turns out that he had died from Rorke, so I took some of his information about the Federation and stepped up, pushing waves into the Federation to help you all. Rorke found out about me and knows that I work as a non-official Ghost, but still one. I'm hunted too, but I'm his last priority. I'm working to make myself his first.” Hesh watched as she got suddenly very animated and stood up slightly.

“He took Logan, my best friend, away. I'm going to kill him," she said, her voice sounding very angry. Hesh said nothing in reply. She knew his brother and their father, but she had never been breathed about near him. After a while of silence, Hesh finally said something.

“What’s your name?” He asked.

"Eclipse Tower," she said as she calmed and sat down.

“How did you find out about the base where Logan was being held?” Hesh asked, beginning his questioning.

“I hacked into a leftover Federation satellite and listened to the few communications that are still going on. I heard Rorke asking for transfer for a prisoner to a new base. They called the base Zeta. I don’t know where it is, but with further listening I discovered where the prisoner was before he was going to be moved. I figured that Rorke’s only prisoner was Logan, so I went to that base. Unfortunately, I was too late and obviously ran into all of you at the same time,” Eclipse replied. Eclipse answered the rest of his questions with no hesitation. The only question she refused to answer was about her relationship with Logan. Hesh left her there and he checked in with Merrick, who gave him a file.

"Found it hidden in your father's old Ghost files that we hadn't looked at since his death," he said. Hesh opened it and found records of Eclipse serving under the Ghosts, secretly. The next file in his hands was of her biography, so he kept that closed, but observed some of the work. She was right. She had found information on Victor Ramoz, such as where he lived and where he was gonna be when the mission was going to take place. She had found information on the base hidden in the mountains. So many things she had done and never taken credit for it. 

“What are we going to do with her?” Hesh asked as he looked over the file.  
“Command has ordered that she not be a prisoner because she’s an asset of this country,” Merrick said. He sounded angry that she was to be welcomed and not made a prisoner. “If they didn’t want us to imprison her, they should have told us that she was working in secret, but apparently Elias had a hand in making sure she wouldn’t be known. But for now, she is to await orders from Command.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shhh, don't worry, I'm posting this one as its own because it's important to know.


	3. Her File

-A few hours later-

Hesh watched as Eclipse was given a room and she observed it. Command had confirmed that Eclipse was working for the Ghosts all along. They cleared her and they were ordered to let her join the Ghosts. Merrick, now the commanding officer, agreed, even though he was a little reluctant to let her be a Ghost. Hesh blinked, coming back from his thoughts as he glanced at her. She was quiet, thoughtful even. He turned and walked away, still holding the file. He went to his room and sat down at his desk. He opened the file. There was an audio tape on the inside, along with the bio itself, so he set the audio tape to the side and began to read the bio on her life.

-Eclipse "Dagger" Tower-

Gender: Female

Age: 25

"Eclipse Tower was born in Los Angeles to Leo and Abby Tower. Leo was a Marine Sniper and Abby was a very successful scientist. When Eclipse was 5, her parents were killed in a car accident. She was given over to her father's brother. It was supposed to be a happy relationship, but Eclipse described the relationship differently.

-Excerpt from Psych review on Eclipse-

Psychologist: "Your uncle, the last living blood relative, how was your relationship with him?"

Eclipse: "I hated him. I'll say that flat out. The only reason he kept me is because he wanted the payments of money to support me for himself. My parents put away a lot of their fortune away for me and he would get checks from their own fund to support me. He never loved me. He often left me out in the cold, expecting me to find a way into the house."

"Eclipse ran away when she was 7 to the forest. She accounts being raised by wolves."

-Excerpt-

Psychologist: "You say you ran away at 7 and were raised by wolves. What do you mean when you say that?"

Eclipse: "Exactly what that means. I got my smarts from my mom. Even when I was 7, I was already incredibly clever. I knew what my uncle wanted me for and I was done serving him. I ran out into the forests and was found by wolves. The males of the pack chased me all around. I was bloodied and hurt from running and tripping so much. I tripped and fell down for the last time. I watched in fear as they surrounded me. I was sure they would kill me, but the Alpha Female, I called her Beauty, she protected me. She jumped in front of the pack and growled. She made all the other wolves back down and approached me. I was fearful, but I realized her intention when she began to lick my wounds. She became my mother. I worked with the wolves for the longest time. They became my family, I became a part of their pack."

“Eclipse was 13 when she met Logan And Elias Walker. All three have the same account of meeting." 

The bio instructed at this point to use the audio tape to hear the accounts. Hesh leaned down and opened a drawer on his desk, finding an old audio tape player. He put it on his desk and put the audio tape inside of it. Leaning back in his chair, he clicked the play button and began to listen to each view. Eclipse’s voice came on first. 

 

-Eclipse's View-

"I met the two Walkers on a Friday. My pack had already taught me many different ways of stealth and since I was never really near people, my clothes were tattered and ripped, but I never cared. I was hunting with my wolf brother, Beauty's son. He was crawling through the tall grass and I was sneaking through tree branches. A huge buck that I had been watching was grazing in front of us. I could have sworn I had seen a small flash of orange on the other side of the small clearing. I found later that had been Elias leaving, telling Logan to hunt with only his knife. I had then noticed something that appeared camouflaged moving down near the deer, but thought nothing of it.

I took out my knife, which I had made from old wolf teeth. I waited silently for a moment and so did the camouflaged piece below. I jumped and so did the shape. The deer must have known about us because it pranced at the last second and I collided into a young man, sending us tumbling together. When I regained my senses, a blonde boy was above me. He looked at me in complete and total shock, mainly over my clothes and why I was there.

Then my wolf brother rushed him, knocking Logan off me. He was going to bite Logan's neck and kill him when I stopped him. I pushed him away and helped Logan up. We chatted a bit, and got to know each other a little. He was a very bright young man; I say that even though he was older than me. He never judged me, never asked about my clothes, never asked about my wolf brother, all he asked was

'Would you like a jacket and some pants? You look cold.' I couldn't believe it. He was so kind to me. I accepted and we walked to his backpack a bit away. He opened it and gave me some clothing. I had started to pull off my tattered clothing there, knowing no sense of humility. I looked up and noticed Logan's red blushing face. He turned away and asked why I was changing right there.

I couldn't understand what he meant and he explained to me what he was talking about. After that, we used our knives to hunt. Around the evening, Elias returned and met us. He asked about me and Logan answered we met while hunting. Elias tested me that day and he accepted me as an unofficial daughter after I explained my life to him. He brought me to their home, but hid me from Hesh. Logan never spoke a word about me to him and neither did Elias."

The tape clicked and he heard Logan’s voice next. 

-Logan's view-

"I met Eclipse when my dad and I were hunting on a Friday. Hesh had been sick for the past few days and he insisted that I go hunting, even though I didn't want to. I left with dad and we went through the forest. Dad noticed a huge buck and looked at me. 'I want you to hunt only with your knife today. I'll be back in a few hours,' he had said. He left and I put my backpack down, leaving my orange jacket inside it and grabbed my knife. I dropped to the ground and started crawling. I had heard soft rustling, but didn't know if it was the deer.

I got right up to the buck and after a few heartbeats, jumped. It just so happened to move and a dark red haired girl was there instead. We crashed into each other and fell. When we stopped, I found myself above her. She was.........beautiful. Her face was flawless and innocent, and even though she lived in the forest, her hair was excellently kept. Her clothes were tatters, but I couldn't get over how she looked.

A wolf jumped me and my knife had been thrown from me. It growled and snarled, about to bite me when Eclipse jumped, pushing the wolf off. She shook her head and it backed away. She offered her hand and helped me up. We chatted and I said nothing about her appearance. I asked if she was cold and wanted clothing. She nodded and I brought her back to my backpack, where I had some extra clothing. I gave them to her and, to my shock, she started to change right in front of me. I couldn't help but blush profusely. She noticed and asked what was wrong. I turned away and explained it to her. After that, we hunted. When dad returned, he was surprised to find me with Eclipse. He took a quick liking to her and dad agreed to let her come home with us. We agreed not to say anything to Hesh as dad wanted her to stay secret for some reason.”

The tape clicked out again, but this time, Hesh heard his father’s voice. 

-Elias's view-

"I met Eclipse when Logan came back from hunting. She was wearing his clothes and I was a bit surprised to see her. Logan explained to me that they found each other when hunting the same deer. I looked at her, observed her, and decided to test her a bit. She told me she was on her own for many years. I gave her a bunch of tests with Logan and she passed each one with my son as though she were answering a simple quiz. 

I decided to take her in and raise her to be a Ghost along with my sons. But I didn't tell Hesh about her. Only Logan and I knew of her. Eclipse stayed in the forest where we'd hunt and when I left the boys to fend for themselves, I would go to Eclipse and train her, give her the same tests."

Hesh was surprised when he heard the clip stop but start again. It was Elias again, but there were sounds in the background, as though he wasn’t doing this as part of an interview.

"When the boys went off to the Army, I took Eclipse to the Ghosts. I gave her the mask she had earned and told Command of my recognition of her, but she was to be completely above top secret and classified. She wasn't to exist. When Hesh and Logan found out I was a Ghost, Eclipse had been working for me for over seven years. She was the one who gave me the intel that Rorke could possibly be alive. She was the one who got close enough to Victor Ramoz to know he worked with Rorke. She's done so much for the Ghosts but doesn't get recognition. This fight is getting hard. I'm writing on this tape so if I am dead when this is heard, that Eclipse is to be welcomed along the team. As much as I know that very few people will like this command, she's worth being a Ghost. Elias out." 

Hesh sat there, the static of the tape sounding as it ended, as he tried to understand what was going on. He looked lower, noticing one small paragraph below on the bio. 

“Elias raised Eclipse with his two sons, Logan and Hesh. Hesh was never told about her, for some reason. Eclipse left the family when the boys went to the army, but visited with Elias often. Not much is known about her during this time of her life. Elias came to her for some undercover work towards the end of his life."

 

The bio ended just like that. It was short and odd. It didn't even give any interests in her or anything. Hesh stared at the small file. Elias had added his own part into the bio after it was completed, not telling the whole picture so that if her bio was ever discovered, no one knew what she was doing during that time. Hesh felt the edges of the file before realizing that it was slightly bulging underneath. He ripped at the edge and pulled what was inside, out. 

They were pictures of Eclipse in current times. A couple showed her interests. She was drawing in a bunch of them, suggesting she really liked art. At the far back of the group of pictures, he found…...ones of particular interest. Logan and Eclipse together. They were in military gear in one, smiling at each other. Both were dirty and had blood splattered on them, as though they were done with a mission. Another was of Eclipse against the wall of a ship, looking at Logan who had his hands on her hips, leaning in slightly. Eclipse appeared to be blushing in it. This had to have been on the carrier. 

Thinking more about these pictures, Hesh figured that this part of the file was to help Elias’s interest in making sure that she and Logan didn't do too much. He closed the file and leaned back in his chair, thinking. He knew he and Eclipse weren't exactly friends, so he couldn't really go in there and question her on her relationship with his brother. If Hesh waited patiently and slowly gained her trust, she would tell him more then than trying to do it now.


	4. The Raid

-5 days later-

Hesh laced up his boots, getting ready for a raid. He glanced up at Merrick, who was giving orders to Kick. He and Kick were readying to raid a place where a man, who knew where Rorke was, would be. Their mission was to interrogate him and get the information they wanted. He looked back down at his boots, tying them up. He stood straight as Keegan came in. 

"We have orders to take Eclipse with us," he said, his voice soft in a slight growl. A moment later, Eclipse walked in behind him.

"I told you, Keegan, Elias gave me some good connections to use and he trained me. I can do this job just as well as all of you," she said. Hesh watched her as she walked over to the spot they had put her weapons and armor at. She made sure they had put everything she had there. Hesh pulled out the face paint and went in front of the mirror as Eclipse pulled on her gear and checked her weapons. Hesh kept watching her in the reflection of the mirror as she pulled out the ammo clip on her pistol, checking the bullets before snapping it back in.

Sensing his gaze, she glanced up at him. They locked eyes for a split second before Eclipse dropped her gaze, tying up her boot laces. Hesh finished with the paint and put it down, checking his weapons before leaving. He walked down the hallways, towards the helipad that would take them to the airfield that had the plane they were to take to their mission. Hesh wasn’t paying much attention, so he was surprised when Eclipse past him in the hallway. She had been super silent as usual and had slipped past him in the hallway. She was pulling up her hood and her mask, hiding her face once again.

 

-1 hour later -

Hesh looked out the window, watching the clouds as they flew through the evening sky. Eclipse was sitting across from him, her arms crossed and her head down slightly, as though she was falling asleep. Hesh shifted, which made him bump Eclipse. She looked up at him, her eyes gleaming under her hood. The two stared at each other until Hesh noticed their legs were touching and he coughed, shifting away. “So, Eclipse, why did the file nickname you the word ‘dagger’?” he asked, to start a conversation to get that awkward moment out of his mind.

Eclipse tilted her head, raising her arm. Hesh looked at her arm and back up at her, wondering what that meant. She pulled just her hand back and a blade appeared out of her wrist. He widened his eyes a bit, seeing the shiny blade from her sleeve. “I keep a blade there in case I get a little too close for comfort,” Eclipse explained as she bent her hand back and the blade retracted. “Elias got to calling it a dagger while I just refer to it as a blade.”

“Interesting,” Hesh said, observing her forearm, trying to figure out where exactly she hid it. Eclipse looked away from him, sighing as she leaned back. Hesh said nothing as he looked across at Keegan, who was watching the encounter. Keegan just shrugged, meaning he didn’t really understand her at all. Hesh just shook his head and rubbed his temples. This mission ought to be quite interesting. 

 

-6 hours later-

The team scaled a tall building in the middle of a bustling city. The man they were looking for was the CEO of a large scale company that went all over the world. He was in a penthouse with his girlfriend, as was supposed by the intel they got from their spy. Hesh stopped for a moment, looking through the windows. They were on the office floor a few stories under the penthouse they needed to go into. They were grappling, but something cold ran down Hesh’s neck as he realized that Eclipse was not with the team. He looked up to see the girl unhooked from her grappling line and climbing up the building using some type of glove with claws. 

“Eclipse!” Hesh hissed into his com link. The reason they weren’t grappling up to the penthouse itself was that it was too risky to be seen.

“Trust me,” she replied and continued climbing. The team looked at each other, wondering if this had been a good idea. Hesh continued with their mission, regardless. He cut the window using a laser and went in with his team. They dropped behind some desks, hearing voices. A couple guards walked around the corner, talking about something in a foreign language. Hesh motioned to Keegan and nodded at the guards, both getting up and shooting the two guards in the heads, killing them. Kick moved up with Keegan and the two dragged the bodies into a hiding spot, but taking their key cards. 

“I have eyes on the target,” Eclipse’s whispered voice came from the com links. 

“Do not engage until the rest of the team is ready,” Merrick’s authoritative voice came through. He was still at the base, watching over the operation.

“I wasn’t going to. But there is some really good action going on up here,” Eclipse chuckled. “Copy that, over and out.” Her com link cut out and she was gone. Kick shook his head and the team traveled up the stairs to the penthouse, using the keycards to unlock the door. They snuck in the front door and saw Eclipse crouching behind a desk, and the CEO they were looking for was on the couch with another woman, both nearly undressed. Eclipse giggled. “Told ya.”

Hesh shook his head and gave the countdown. “Three…….two…….one. Go!” he ordered and the team stood up, surprising the CEO and the lady, who covered themselves up. Eclipse stood up and started hacking into his computer that was on the desk she was hiding behind, her eyes darting across the screen. “Eclipse, what are you doing?” Hesh said, walking over to her.

“Looking for information on a base. There’s so few left and if this douche bag still supports Rorke, then he has to be sending his supplies somewhere. I need to find the name of the base that Logan was taken to,” Eclipse replied, continuing to search his computer. Hesh looked up as Kick called his name. The CEO was held down by Keegan and the lady was being aimed at by Kick. Hesh knelt down next to the man.  
“Either you tell us where Rorke is, or we expose to the whole world who you’ve been helping,” Hesh threatened with a quiet whisper. 

“I won’t tell you anything!” the man spit at Hesh.

“Then we’ll have to start leaking precious information. Eclipse? Show the man what you can do.” Eclipse nodded in reply to Hesh’s voice. She pulled up on the big tv screen of what she was doing. She was getting all his company files ready to upload and all she had to do was click the button and the man would be ruined forever. 

“Alright! Alright! Rorke is hiding somewhere in Los Angeles! He’s been there all along and you guys haven’t even known it!” the man snarled. Keegan raised his gun to knock him out when a sound from Eclipse caught the group’s attention. She was standing there, at the computer, holding her shoulder. There was a bullet in her shoulder vest. She raised her gun and fired across the room, at the lady. She had pulled out a silenced pistol and had shot Eclipse when Kick had been distracted by the stuff on the screen. It was a brutal headshot and the lady fell to the floor, dead. A radio transmission came in the room, saying guards were being sent up to investigate. Eclipse groaned as she pulled the bullet out of her shoulder, dropping it on the ground as Keegan hit the butt of his pistol on the back of the man’s head, knocking him out.

“Let’s go!” Hesh said, running over to Eclipse. She was holding her shoulder, which was more than likely bruised from the bullet hitting her vest. He wrapped his arm around her waist to help keep her up and focused. Hesh was surprised at just how small she was and how fragile she felt when he wrapped his arm around her. She nodded towards a door behind the desk. “There,” she murmured. Hesh went to the door, pushing it open. It was the bedroom and the window was open. That must have been how Eclipse got in. Hesh noticed that she was tucking something away in her uniform and had opened his mouth to ask, but as he heard the approaching guards, he knew he had no time at the moment. Hesh let go of Eclipse and looked out the window. They were running out of time as the team filed into the small room. Something caught Hesh’s attention as he looked over his shoulder. Eclipse started chuckling and before Hesh could ask her what she was laughing at, she stepped past him and jumped out the window. He stood there in shock, unable to move as Keegan quickly looked over, only to make a sound of surprise, dodging a climbing claw that latched on inside the room. When Hesh looked out the window, Eclipse was grappling down to the lines they had left. She grabbed ahold of them and quickly scaled back up, giving each of them their lines.

“Let’s go, ladies,” Eclipse said as she let go of the window and started free falling. Hesh hooked onto his grapple line and looked out. Eclipse had grabbed ahold of her old line and was swinging across to the other building across the street, where their evac helicopter would come. She jumped off the line and landed on the window, using her claws to scale. Hesh shook his head and hopped out the window with his grapple, the others following. They climbed to the roof, hearing the guards closing in. They shot grapples across to the roof, where Eclipse already was. Hesh’s hook had missed and started to fall, but Eclipse grabbed ahold of it and put it in the right spot.

Hesh jumped out of the window, using the line to swing across the distance. His team was right behind him as he scaled the building and at the top, Eclipse was sitting on an air conditioner, grinning at him. “Well, that was fun.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are really bad because I wrote them 2 years ago before I got better. Just hang with me here and I promise it'll get better


	5. Rain and Stupid Kick

Hesh glared at Eclipse the whole ride back to the base. Eclipse cooly met his glare with a gaze of her own, those intoxicating blue eyes almost taunting him. She was unmoving, not reacting to his glare. “What did you pick up there?” Hesh asked her.

“I told you. I know the name of the base they took Logan, I had to find it in that idiot’s files,” Eclipse replied smoothly.  
“You do not have authorization to go and act off on your own,” Merrick’s voice chimed in through their ear coms. Making a look of disgust, Eclipse pulled the ear bud out and threw it across the helicopter, landing in Hesh’s lap. 

“I was trained to work on my own. Elias never meant for me to work with the Ghosts because he knew they wouldn't trust me. He used me as his information hunter and I worked alone,” Eclipse growled softly. Hesh picked up the ear com, tucking it away in his uniform.

“Elias is dead and now you’re a part of this team, Agent Dagger. That means you will be playing by our rules,” Hesh replied. At hearing him call her Agent Dagger, she snapped a dark look at him. It was clear she didn’t like being addressed by agent. 

“Whatever,” Eclipse murmured. She crossed her arms and looked out the helicopter for the rest of the ride back. 

 

-4 hours later-

Merrick was waiting for them when their plane landed. He was glaring at the team as they stepped off. “Eclipse!” he yelled. Hesh glanced over at the smaller girl, noticing that she was still calm as could be. 

“Yes, your highness?” she replied in a mocking tone as she stood in front of him. He growled and shoved her back. Hesh happened to be standing there, so he caught her, her back against his chest. 

“You are under my orders. Ghost or no Ghost, if you’re going to be on this team, you are going to obey what your higher ups say. Elias may have made you a loner, but I am now in his position as leader of the Ghosts, so you will be under my orders now,” Merrick said as he forced his hand into Eclipse’s vest, taking the flash drive before turning around and storming away.

“My, my. I must have really angered our Queen Bee today,” Eclipse murmured quietly. Despite her making fun of Merrick, Hesh smiled, finding it amusing. She stepped away from Hesh then, noticing that he had his hands on her shoulders from being pushed into him. 

“Well, in his defense, you do need to listen and share information. One of these times of keeping secrets and you might get one of us killed,” Hesh explained to her. He was also hinting towards what she felt about Logan, but figured she didn’t pick up on that when she just shrugged at him.

“Keeping secrets was my job. It’s hard to break a habit that I’ve had for many years,” Eclipse said with a sigh. 

“Yes, that I can understand, but you need to break it. Merrick only gives one chance before he decides that you’re not worth for the team,” Hesh explained as they walked along in the slight drizzle of rain. “It takes a lot of work for Merrick to even like you, so don’t be surprised if he’s hard on you to start with.”

“Yeah, that’s what Elias had said when I asked about the rest of the Ghosts. He explained the team and their personalities to me,” Eclipse commented.

“I would tread carefully now,” Hesh said as he noticed Keegan motioning him over subtly. He walked away from Eclipse, who appeared to be wandering the base in the drizzle. Hesh walked into the command building, where Keegan was standing in the doorway. He stepped out of the rain, shivering slightly. “What?”

“We found something you might be interested in,” Keegan said as he lead Hesh to the command room. Merrick was standing there, staring up at the screen when they entered. Hesh looked up to see what he was looking at. To his shock, and his blood cooling, he saw Logan’s face, battered and bruised. The camera was facing Logan, as though it was recording his session of being abused. A hand in the shape of a fist came from the side of the picture as Logan was punched, his head flipping back and he was knocked out cold. The hand was on the side of the screen now, as though the person beating on him were standing there watching. The hand was bloodied from the injuries that was inflicted upon Logan.

A foreign voice was heard, saying something, then another voice. Rorke’s. “He’s out again? Hmph, he’s not lasting very long anymore. It only takes a few punches before he’s out,” the evil man said as he was seen, leaning into the camera screen in front of Logan. “He’ll be ready soon.” The camera clicked out. Hesh stared at the black screen. 

“What did we just watch?” the man whispered softly. 

“According to what Eclipse discovered, this was stored away with all that the CEO had on Logan’s whereabouts. Turns out that Logan is being kept Los Angeles, like he said, but that video was taken to show the guy that the work was going well on Logan’s mind,” Merrick explained. Hesh didn’t move, but he felt his blood running cold throughout his veins. He was worried sick for his brother and had been since the day he had been taken away. They had always come so close to taking down Rorke, but every time he was one step ahead and had moved Logan without their noticing. 

“When do we take the flight to L.A.?” Hesh asked and Merrick gritted his teeth as though he didn’t want to say. The man growled at his superior. “When?” 

“Next month. Washington won’t let us leave until the rest of the Federation has been taken care of down here. Besides that, the flights are all full of soldiers returning home,” Merrick said and had to dodge Hesh’s rampage as the man picked up and threw a cup across the room. It shattered into hundreds of pieces against the wall.

“Next month?! Logan needs us now!” the older brother yelled, biting back the tears that stung at the edges of his eyes. He had never cried once from when his brother was taken, but now they threatened to come because they were so close to rescue Logan, but no, they wouldn’t be allowed until next month until a flight would be available to take their team. “You have to be able to do something! We have to use priority or something!” 

“No, Hesh, I can’t,” Merrick said regretfully. “Washington was clear that if we tried to leave, they would hunt us down too.”

Hesh couldn’t hear another word and stormed out of the control room, back out into the drizzle of rain. He didn’t even notice he was running until he was panting heavily at the edge of the base. He fell to his knees, head against the fence as he looked out. He was facing northwest, where his brother was, somewhere out there. His fingers slipped through the wiring, grasping it as he lowered his head. He felt the tears fall finally after a year of being bottled up. He wasn’t aware of someone approaching until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder, Eclipse was there. She looked sad too as she knelt down beside Hesh.

“I saw the video when I was searching. I didn’t need to see it again,” she murmured softly. He almost didn’t hear her because of the dripping of rain. “Logan has been alone for a year……... _I_ have been alone for a year.” Hesh knew that the droplets that fell from her cheeks wasn’t the rain. He looked at her and suddenly saw what Logan and Elias did when they met her and what Logan had fallen in love with. Her face was framed in the rain by her wet red hair. Her cheeks were slightly red from the nip of chill and her blue eyes reflected like a sapphire when she cried. Her lips looked soft and inviting, but for the moment they were quivering from her crying. 

What happened next, Hesh didn’t know why, but he felt his fingers letting go of the wire fence and reached over with his right hand to draw her chin up to look at him. She looked at him, her eyes still glossy. “We will get Logan back. That, I promise you,” he whispered softly to her. She stared at him, meeting his own blue eyes. She nodded slowly and the two stayed like this for the moment. He could hear a voice in his mind telling him that she was breathtaking and that he should just kiss her, but his mind flashed back to those photos of Logan and Eclipse. Clearly they were a couple. But the voice insisted that Logan shouldn’t mind……

“Hesh! Eclipse!” a voice made the two of them jump and they quickly composed themselves, standing up and looking toward where the voice came from. Kick was running toward them. Hesh tried to mask his blushing face, which he knew he was blushing because his face felt hot and uncomfortable at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eclipse had slightly redder cheeks than she did just moments before. 

“Merrick wants to see the both of you,” Kick reported to them before turning around and running back. It seemed like that he didn’t like the rain as much as Eclipse and Hesh did. Once he was gone, Hesh looked down at her. She looked back up and the two locked gazes again. Hesh wanted so badly to see what those lips felt like, but he brushed it away regretfully in his mind. Instead he smiled, gently bumping her shoulder.  
“Come on, Queen Bee wants us,” he teased. What he got in return was worth it. She laughed, her voice gentle and soft. Soft, something he wasn’t used to. But he wanted to find out, he thought as they walked back to the command center.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone needs to punch Kick for that, anyone else agree?


	6. Hesh Falls Deeper

When the two walked into Command, Merrick was on the phone with someone. He seemed to be receiving orders, which only inflamed Hesh’s anger for the moment. Washington wouldn’t them rescue another Ghost simply because they were to kill the last few pockets of Federation. He must have been glaring pretty badly because he felt a hand on his elbow and looked to his side. Eclipse was looking up at him, shaking her head slightly. He nodded and relaxed his facial expressions to hide his fury, which had been cooled a bit by her touch. 

Merrick hung up the phone then as Hesh felt Eclipse’s hand pull back. They looked forward at him and he was rubbing his forehead, seeming to know that what he was about to tell them would only make Hesh angrier. But, sighing, he looked up at the two agents before him.

“Washington has found a pocket of Feds in a jungle. They want us to eliminate them, but I need Keegan and Kick to go take out a different group, so that leaves you two working together for this one. You will have the Army as backup, but you will be the only two Ghosts working on the inside,” he informed them. Hesh gritted his teeth and nodded, noticing that Eclipse had to do the same thing. He saw her jaw strain slightly and her eyes narrow just the tiniest bit as she nodded as well. 

Eclipse turned and headed out first with Hesh behind her. They were going to the barracks to retrieve their weapons. They were still dressed from the last mission, but were soaked, so Hesh wanted to change clothes as well. Besides that, he was aware of his face paint dripping off in little black droplets. They walked side by side, silently and Hesh suddenly realized that Eclipse had admitted to him that she and Logan had been together.

“When did you two start to date?” Hesh asked softly as they entered the building. 

“Just before you both joined the Ghosts. Logan and I would meet up when we could. It wasn’t often with my work as a Ghost, but we made it work,” Eclipse replied just as softly. They walked into the locker room, to which Hesh actually realized that their lockers were across from each other. He quickly dismissed that from his thoughts as he opened his and retrieved his face paint. The gear they would need for this mission was already placed in his locker, as it normally was.

“You almost caught us more than once,” Eclipse said suddenly with a laugh. He turned and looked at her, eyebrow raised. “I won’t tell you all the times, but before you and Logan went into Dead Man’s Land, we were together in the Command Center, one of our hidden areas. But unfortunately, you had gone looking for him with Riley. I had just enough time to slip out the window before you walked in.” Hesh recalled that moment. Riley was pawing at the door and he had opened it to see Logan leaning out the window, looking at the ocean. When he faced him, he had realized that his little brother’s face was flushed slightly. He had blamed it on the hot air. 

Hesh shook his head with a soft chuckle to mask the feeling in his heart. He didn’t understand it. His heart felt tight and ached slightly in his chest. Was this…….jealousy? He didn’t get time to finish that thought because a happy barking caught his attention. Turning to the doorway, he saw the wolf that they had taken with Eclipse running into the room, panting happily. She knelt down, smiling as the wolf quickly jumped up into her arms, licking her face. 

“Okay, okay, Lucia, I know you missed me,” she giggled as she petted the wolf, gently pushing her back down. “We’re going on a mission, you ready?” The dog dipped its head in reply, tail wagging.

“So am I going to hear the story on Lucia?” he asked as he picked up his gear to go change. 

“Maybe,” Eclipse winked at him as she picked up her own gear and went into the women’s part of the locker room. Hesh stood there for a moment, eyes locked on the spot she once was. Lucia seemed to notice his infatuation for her owner. She barked at him, head tilted to the side. He chuckled and shook his head, walking into the guy’s part of the locker room, not looking in response to the dog.

He stripped himself free of the old gear, tossing it to the bench as he turned on the shower. He made sure it was set to scalding hot water before stepping in. Outside was not cold, but it had a chill that could cause him to get sore, so he wanted a hot shower before they went to work. He tried not to think of anything, but Eclipse kept worming her way into his thoughts. He didn’t understand it, but she was there. He could see her brilliant smile, hear her laughter, and how soft she felt from when he touched her. Was it a bad thing to think about his little brother’s girlfriend? 

Finished with his shower, he stepped out, wrapping the towel around his waist. He reached down to check the gear, only to realize that they had forgot his belt. He strolled back into the locker room. But he froze the moment he took a step in. Eclipse had her back to him, sitting on the bench. She was wearing only her bra and was wringing out her hair with a towel. She wore her pants, though, thankfully enough for him. Hesh’s eyes were attracted to every line and curve she had on her back. Even from this side, he could see that she was incredibly fit. She was still unaware of him as she stood up, picking up her black shirt and pulling it over her head. It was……..clearly very tight against her skin, but it only amplified her slim features. 

Hesh came to realize that his mouth was dropped open and was working to shut it when she stood up and bent over to pick up her vest. His eyes widened and he felt his face get hot. He knew he should turn away, be respectful, but he couldn’t do anything. He was helpless to move when this girl, this beautiful woman was before him. He could hear a voice scolding him loudly in his head. She’s taken, she’s taken, it ranted on and on. And taken by the one man he would never want to hurt. 

Eclipse suddenly stopped moving once she had clipped her vest together. She seemed to sense something before turning slowly. Her eyebrows went up, showing surprised crystal blue orbs. She had her hands frozen by the last clips on her vest as he noticed her eyes start to fall from his. She…..was she…….checking him out? He pretended not to notice because his heart had started to loosen from the tightness it had been feeling. He turned to his locker, picking up the lone belt hanging there. 

A soft touch was the last thing he expected to feel and he almost jumped away when he felt it, but quickly resisted. He looked over his shoulder. Eclipse traced a long scar he had from his upper shoulder down to his spine with her fingertips. 

“Logan told me about this scar. He said that you got it when trying to save him from a scared deer,” she murmured softly.

“He told you about me?” Hesh asked ever so quietly in return.

“Lots of times. He admires you so much, Hesh,” she said as she looked up, meeting his eyes. “He looks up to you for almost everything. He tells me about what you do during missions and how you help him constantly. He wants to make it all up to you and be with you all the time. He loves you, so when we save him, you need to tell him that. I don’t care if you’re both grown men who are army strong, you need to let him know that you love him too, because that’s what being a brother is.” Eclipse held Hesh’s gaze when she told him all this. Her fingertips were resting along his spine before she pulled them away.

“Now go get dressed, the sooner we kill them, the sooner we can rescue Logan,” she said, her voice normal once more. He nodded before a slight smirk crossed his face as he walked back into the men’s part. 

“Yes ma’am,” he said and he could have swore he heard her gasp in surprise, but he wasn’t sure. He pulled on his gear before heading back out. Eclipse was still there, kneeling in front of her wolf. He watched as she clasped some armor on the wolf then patted her head. She barked and headed out of the room. Eclipse stood up, looking at him. She was fully decked out again, much like she was when he met her. Her mask and hood were down still though.

“Come on, Hesh, we’ve got some work to do,” she said with a smirk. She turned and started walking out and he followed, grabbing his gun as he did. She tied her hair back into a ponytail and then tucked it down as she pulled her hood up and then her mask. He said nothing as he continued walking beside her. Both appeared badass as hell as they walked out of the barracks. The rain had let up and the helicopter’s blades were beginning to spin. Eclipse chuckled as she headed toward it first.   
“Let’s rock this.”


	7. Their First Mission

Hesh watched as Eclipse dropped from the helicopter into the bushes before following suit. The sound of the blades disappeared as it pulled away and Hesh got up. Riley and Lucia were prowling ahead slowly while Eclipse nodded at Hesh. He nodded back and the two moved forward. It was strange because Hesh was able to tell what she was doing before she did it. She saw Logan in her, so very much her brother. He knew they trained together, but he didn’t realize how much until he watched her movements. She ducked under a tree branch while he walked around the trunk of the same tree. Their guns had silencers and they were supposed to take this group by surprise. It was only supposed to be approximately twenty some people and the two of them, being trained in killing and stealth, would have no problem eliminating the problem. 

Hesh quickly clicked his tongue and the three movements stopped instantly, turning to look at him. He clicked again and quickly ducked behind some bushes while Eclipse dropped to the ground. Her black uniform made it perfect to blend into the shadows cast by the trees. Riley and Lucia backed up behind a tree. They waited this way for a few heartbeats before the bushes in front of Hesh started rustling. A patrol of three men came out, wearing camouflaged armor. They were silent as they looked around before one of them talked in their native language. It appeared that they knew the helicopter had come close but they didn’t know what for. Hesh saw Eclipse tap the ground a few times. He didn’t know what that meant, but Lucia seemed to because the wolf prowled forward, lips drawn back in a snarl.

In the next moment, he saw the true power of Eclipse in her stealth mode. The wolf had jumped the back man and had bitten into his throat. He made a strangled gasp, heard by the two other men. When they turned around, Eclipse jumped them. She shoved her combat knife into the neck of the one man while she pulled her wrist back and used the blade on the other, shoving it into his spine, more than likely disrupting his spinal cord. This took place all in the frame of a few seconds. Hesh blinked a few times. Even he and Logan had taken more time taking down enemies then her. 

She retracted her bloodied blade and removed the combat knife with a crack of the man’s neck. There had been almost no sound to her kills. He came out the bushes, kneeling down as he put his hands under the dead man’s arms and pulling him into the bushes. He did this one more time before noticing that Lucia had pulled the other body out of sight, although he didn’t know where it was.

“Impressive,” he said under his breath as they crept along once more. He didn’t hear a response from Eclipse, but was sure she was smirking under her hood. He crept along through the bushes and was watching her out of the corner of his eye. She moved without a sound and barely left any footprints behind her. Lucia was moving along beside her legs while Riley was beside him. Hesh began to think that they might not even need any back up with this assignment. When they found the camp of the Feds, he was wrong.

There were about a dozen trucks with about two dozen large tents. There were men moving from place to place and a satellite dish connected to a large van like vehicle that had some sort of monitors inside. Hesh moved over to Eclipse, who was watching the same thing, Lucia laying down by her legs. 

“This is way larger than command told us, we’ll have to call for backup,” Hesh told her, but she shook her head. Her voice was soft as she spoke in reply to him.

“We don’t have time, they look like they’re getting ready to move out,” she told him, nodding towards the men loading up equipment into one of the trucks.

“What are we going to do then? We can’t attack outright, we’ll get slaughtered,” he told her, counting up the men and finding at least 40 to 50 people even from just looking at what was before him. He knew there had to be more people that were not visible inside the tents and trucks. Eclipse grabbed his arm, pulling him back into the bushes as she pulled out a small GPS like device. She started typing into it and he tilted his head. “What are you doing?”

“That satellite has to be needed for something, we’re going to see what it is,” she told him. Hesh became very aware of her as she pressed up against his side and showed him what was on the monitors. For the moment, they were simply just checking out the radar, confirming that the helicopter was gone. Hesh was a little too distracted by her body warmth, which he could feel even through her armor. He was pulled back into the world when she quickly grabbed his arm.

“It’s Rorke,” she whispered and Hesh focused on the screen. It was showing Rorke talking to the people in the van. 

“-sure to patrol the area carefully. The Ghosts will be occupied around your area trying to kill the rest of you. Don’t underestimate them. Soon, we won’t have to worry about them. Pack up and report to me, over and out,” he said before his face disappeared from the screen. Hesh took a breath, realizing he had been holding it the whole time. He looked up at the camp through the bushes. Something needed to be done. When he looked back down, he realized Eclipse hadn’t moved. She was shivering against his side and her hands were gripping the GPS, the screen shaking in her grasp. He looked over at her and her head was bowed down. 

“Eclipse,” he murmured and she shook her head, lifting her gaze. He couldn’t see her eyes, but he knew they were focused on him.

“It’s nothing. Let’s get to work,” she said.

Hesh waited before Eclipse gave her signal in his earpiece. He moved behind the trucks, ducking from shadow to shadow. He was placing C4 on the bottom of each truck. He quickly crawled under a truck when a guard came behind where he was hiding. He watched the man’s legs. He seemed to be looking around before he fell to the ground. Hesh looked at the man’s body and saw the hole in his forehead. 

“Tango down,” Eclipse’s whispered voice came through his ear. She was using her sniper up in one of the trees, having attached a silencer to the end. Hesh crawled forward, grabbing the man’s body and dragging him under the truck while he crawled out. He looked around. There was no one else near him, so he continued with his C4. Once each one was placed, he moved behind the tents. He could hear a man talking inside, but couldn’t make out the words. 

“Place the vine along the back of the tents,” Eclipse whispered in his ear. He nodded to himself as he unwrapped the vine they had collected from his waist. He tied it to the post of the tent and then pulled it along behind him, wrapping it around all the tents. Once that was done, he pulled out his lighter. 

“Hey, what are you doing there?” a voice surprised him. He froze as someone came up behind him. “I’m talking to you! Who are-” the voice was gone in a moment’s notice and loud thump afterwards. He turned and looked, finding the guard on the ground, hole through his chest. He looked up into the trees, seeing the flash of Eclipse’s scope. She had his back like Logan would. He turned back to the vine, letting the flames of the lighter lick at the end. Soon enough, it took and the flames began. 

Hesh waited until the flames caught to all of the tents and the smoke gained the attention of the people in the camp. He watched as people began to run towards the fires, to take stuff out of the tents. While they were doing that, he saw Eclipse’s scope flash over and over as she sniped out the guards on the edge of the camp, the ones that no one would see go down because of the fire. The ones that ran by Hesh, he would grab and drag into the bushes and stab before waiting for the next. 

“Okay, all the outer guards have been taken down. I’m going to start sniping the ones near the fires. Wait for my signal to blow up the C4,” she told him and he pulled out the detonator. He watched as bodies began to drop. “Five.” Another body. “Four.” The last of the group has begun to notice. “Three.” Someone is looking towards Eclipse’s hiding spot. “Two.” She shoots him but others had already noticed. “One.” They’re starting to aim up at her spot. “NOW!!!” 

Hesh was almost knocked off his feet when he clicked the detonator. He stayed upright, watching as the other people were knocked off their feet. They knew Eclipse was there now and there were only about a dozen men left alive. He cocked his gun was about to run out when Lucia and Riley jumped out of the bushes, snarling as they ripped into the downed men and slashing open their throats. Hesh then shot the last few as they began to get up. Then he glanced around the clearing. The tents were all on fire and everything inside was ash by now, the trucks were all burning wrecks now, with their van being the only untouched thing.

“All clear,” he said, making sure that Eclipse heard him. 

“Roger that,” she replied. He went into the van, the only thing left intact and found that there was no one there, abandoned when they started the fire. There was equipment all around the van with a screen towards the back. He sat down, working to get into their system.

“Any luck?” a voice disrupted his thoughts. He was beginning to become used to Eclipse being there. He shook his head. She studied it from his side as well. “This technology is incredibly advanced.” She suddenly grabbed at his hands when he opened a menu. 

“Eclipse, what are you doing?” he asked, confused.

“Don’t go any further. This is laced with a deletion technology. If we try to get any further into their systems, it will delete every file on these servers,” she said. He nodded, wondering how she figured it out just from looking at it. She pulled his hands down into his lap while she moved her hands to the keyboard, typing from the side of him. He watched as she seemed to expertly worm her way around the traps set up on the system and get into the data they wanted. She took out a flash drive and plugged it in.

It began to upload all of their information to the United States servers and Eclipse sat back in the van, against the wall. Hesh couldn’t tell where her eyes were, but he looked out the windows in the front. They sat there for a while before he heard her voice again.

“What if we don’t get him back, Hesh?” she asked, quietly. He turned and looked at her. She had her head on her knees, arms wrapped around her legs. 

“Why do you say that?” he asked in reply to her, curious as to why her question came up.

“Because I feel it, in my heart. Something bad is going to happen,” she replied after a long period of silence. He never got to reply though because the drive clicked, with all their data uploaded. He took it out of their system and got up. He offered her his hand and she took it, pulling to stand up.  
“We have to believe, Eclipse. We have to believe that Logan will come back to us,” he told her softly. “I know it’ll be okay.” She nodded and climbed out of the van with Hesh behind her. Lucia and Riley, the wolf and the shepeard were sitting patiently by the edge of the clearing. Eclipse chuckled when she saw them, only glancing around once before she grabbed a grenade from his hip. He watched as she turned around, walking backwards with him as she pulled the pin and chucked it into the open door. She then turned back around, walking by his side as they met their two canines. They walked into the bushes, not turning around for the explosion that happened in the clearing. Their job here was done and it was onto the next one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a little different. We will dip into Eclipse's mind and see what she thinks about what's going on.


	8. Confusion

That mission had been about two weeks ago at this point. After that, they had been sent on separate missions. On the fleeting moments that they met, Hesh had been sure to make her laugh and smile. She wondered why. He always was a bit of a mystery to her. Eclipse had never met the man before now, but now she saw what Logan did in him. He was clever, always seeming to be one step ahead of her in certain things. He was strong, always want to protect his teammates and those around him. But there were little things that he did that she didn’t understand. 

For one, he always seemed to be red-faced when they went into the barracks together to get ready for missions. Then she was aware of him always working to comfort her. At first, she resented it a little, being used to only getting comfort from Logan. But as time went on, she began to thank Hesh silently for that comfort. She never told anyone that she often went to bed crying. She missed Logan so much it made her ache on the inside. But Hesh was there, smiling at her and waiting with a joke at breakfast. It made the ache subside, even just for a while. 

Then one night, when they both had some free time and they weren’t on a mission, Hesh had asked her about his brother. He wasn’t implicating anything, but he seemed curious on what she knew, so she told him stories about things that she had Logan had done together. The tricks, the pranks, the work, the tests. After finding her in the forest, every moment that he was not with Hesh, he was with her. He was always so sweet to her. She smiled when she told him about how shy he was originally. They were having a free night and Hesh was away with Elias, doing something. She was waiting patiently by the forest, playing with her proper combat knife, the one Elias gave her. When he came up, his cheeks were dusted with pink and he seemed nervous. To her surprise, he handed her a rose.

“It reminded me of you, its petals beautiful like your hair,” Logan had told her. It was so sweet, Eclipse had wanted to cry. Never had anyone done anything like that for her. So she took it, but she noticed the thorns and he had this adorable sly smile. “Every beauty needs to have her protection though. Those that don’t treat her nice get the thorns.” When he said this, she had grabbed him, pulling him into a tight hug. She had cried in his shoulder, thanking him for the flower while he wrapped his arms around her, gently stroking her hair. 

Hesh only smiled widely at her when she told him this story. He had replied that what happened sounded like something Logan would do. The next morning when Eclipse woke up, Lucia padded into her room, wearing her collar, but with something attached. Lucia sat down beside the bed and Eclipse was surprised to see a blue morning glory attached with a small note. She picked up the flower and the note. 

“Logan forgot about the sapphire eyes,” was all it read. Eclipse blushed. She knew Hesh had been leaving early that morning and would be gone for about a week on his next mission. She was free, however, for the next few days. Where had he gotten the flower? Something this delicate and beautiful was rare to find in the blackened world. It was then that something had changed inside of her. 

Her heart ached for the missing Logan, but…..something warm and blossoming was growing beside that ache. Inside of her, a rose stood. It was warm and full of love and memories, but over the last year, it had begun to wilt. The sadness and pain of losing Logan had taken its toll on the poor flower. But now, beside that rose, there was a little tiny green flower growing. It was beginning to open, blue petals appearing and taking its shape as a morning glory. 

She pulled her legs up to her chest, sitting on her bed as she thought about this. She had dated Logan for so long and had loved him for even longer. Their relationship felt like it would never break, but she knew deep down that something could change between them. Then there was his older brother, Hesh. He was so mysterious to her, with new stories and experiences to tell her about. He was so like, but unlike Logan in so many ways. There were things that he did that threatened to make her blush but if Logan had done it, she wouldn’t have reacted. 

Her head couldn’t make sense of these feelings while her heart wanted both of them. It wasn’t like Hesh was forcing her to like him, but it’s not like the feelings she had for Logan had ever disappearing. Was it a crime to want both men? To love the one as she always had, but maybe explore the same kind of love with another? She wanted to hit her head against the wall because this confusion was driving her crazy. 

So she laid down again, wanting to sleep and try and forget all of this. But she slept with the flower in her hand, and a hidden tattoo close by to that. She dreamed about the the first time Logan had kissed her. They were both Ghosts by this point. They had begun to date before then but with the only the moments together being their relationship, they hadn’t actually gotten time to actually date. After he had finished with Operation Clockwork, they had some time. 

“Hey, Eclipse, what do you want after this is all over?” he had asked her as they walked through the hallways of the ship they were on. She had glanced at him kinda strange, but smiled at him because he was always asking strange questions.

“I don’t know, Logan, I guess I’ve never really thought about it,” she had replied to him. He stopped her then, turning her toward him and placing his hands on her hips, gently pushing her against the wall. He leaned in slightly, making her widen her eyes in surprise and blush. 

“I know what I want,” he had said in the softest of whispers. She shivered, her hands on his arms. She didn’t push him away, but rather, held onto him and his presence. 

“W-What is that?” she asked him and he gave her that adorable sly grin. He moved closer to her, pressing her up against the wall with his hips while tilting his head slightly. He closed his eyes and she felt hers fall shut as his lips pressed against hers. She shivered, knowing that was their first kiss in either of their lives. His taste and lips were intoxicating to her as he kissed her and she never wanted to lose them. Pulling only a little bit away from her, he ghosted over her lips.

“I want you, my dear,” he said in a whisper. After that, well, she didn’t need to go into too much detail about that. But then the dream changed. She and Hesh were on a mission, but they had been told to hold off for a moment on moving in. So they were sitting there. She had her hood and mask down, which she didn’t know why. Hesh was saying something to her, but she couldn’t hear him. She was too busy observing the man to care much about his words. Her dream self moved closer, settling by his side. This time she could hear him ask what she was doing. She blamed it on it being cold. It was far from cold, with the warm sunshine and gentle warm breeze. 

Her heart was racing and she was nervous, but she wasn’t sure why. Then she suddenly turned, pulling his head down and kissing him. He was surprised in the dream, but kissed her back. He fell back with her on top of him and continued kissing him. It was hot and passionate, so unlike the gentle Logan. 

She gasped as she sat up out of her bed, breathing heavily. Lucia was looking at her worriedly with a whine. She rubbed the dog’s ears. “It’s okay, Lucia, just a dream,” she said. The flower was still in her hand and her sleeve had fallen down. There was a tiny red rose tattooed on her wrist. She had a mark from both men now. And both were flowers.   
Burying her head in her pillow, she cried out her confusion and pain into the pillow. After a while, she finally slept for another few hours without a hint of a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those following the story, I'm warning you that there might be some twists in here that you may, or may not, expect!


	9. Wish Granted

Hesh was sitting outside, on one of the anti-air guns that no longer was operational. He often sat there when he needed to think. He was currently cooling off because it had been longer than a month. Or at least, he thought it was longer than a month. He couldn’t tell anymore. His mind was muddled and confused. He almost got killed on the last mission he went on because he couldn’t focus. Eclipse was in his thoughts almost constantly and then when he slept, he was having nightmares. He kept seeing Logan’s beaten up and bloodied face in his dreams, taunting him that he should be helping his brother, not doing this. 

Sighing, he looked up at the starry sky, watching them twinkle. He knew some of them weren’t stars, but the ODIN duplicates still in orbit. He wondered where Logan was now, if he was watching the same stars that he was. Then he wondered what would happen when they were sent to rescue the man. Would he be the same little brother that Hesh had always had? Or would there be something wrong? Did Rorke break his brother into millions of pieces, never to be recovered? Or could maybe he and Eclipse save him?

“Logan loved to watch the stars. We did it a lot when we were together,” a voice said, disrupting him from his train of thought. Looking down, he saw Eclipse standing beside the gun, looking up at the sky as well. She was holding a notebook close to her chest, he noted as she climbed up beside him. She set down the book between them as she pulled her legs up to her chest. 

“We used to climb up onto our roof as kids and watch the stars too,” Hesh admitted to her. Only Logan and him knew that they used to do that. Elias did too, but he was gone, so the secret now rested between the two brothers and now to this girl who had affected both boys equally as much. He looked up and the two sat there for a while, just watching the sky. 

“What’s the notebook for?” Hesh asked eventually. She looked down at it and so did he before she picked it up and handed it to him. Opening it up, he found pictures drawn with extraordinary detail. A bird sitting on the end of the anti-air gun they were sitting on now. Soldiers training in the yard, frozen into a jumping-jack stance. Then there were flowers that she must have drawn from memory. He stopped when he found a picture of Logan. It was drawn from the side view of him, with him looking up.

“He always loved to watch me draw, so I did him one night when we were together,” Eclipse murmured, watching him flip through the pages and pause on Logan’s picture. Hesh looked over to her and simply nodded, not saying a word. He continued flipping through the pages. Then he found three of interest. One was a rose. Another was a morning glory. And the final one shocked him. It was him. He was also looking up and he saw eraser marks still on the page. He looked over at her and she was just looking up towards the sky. 

“You and him make great models,” was all she had to comment on the picture and he smiled. 

“When we get Logan back, we’re going to make sure that you get your own side profile in this book,” Hesh chuckled softly. She smiled back, turning to look at him. The stars reflected in her blue eyes and he loved the way she looked now, with her hair tucked behind her ear, the rest down on her shoulders. The way her head was tilted to the side and the tiny scrunch of her nose she did when she smiled. He knew he had fallen, and he had fallen hard. 

He leaned over, cupped a hand on her neck and drew her head down a bit so he could kiss her forehead. When he pulled away, he saw she was surprised, but was blushing for some reason, looking up at him. He simply nodded and looked back up at the stars. He wouldn’t push her any further. A beautiful girl like her belonged with his younger brother and he would let them be together. Before she could say anything more, he jumped down, waving at her before walking off to his room. He had made his decision. He wouldn’t let her fall for him anymore. He regretted giving her the morning glory and being the comfort for her when he knew she needed Logan. 

She would be a friend, nothing more than that. 

 

The next morning, both of them finally got their wish. Merrick was standing in the Command center with Keegan and Kick beside him. Hesh almost thought they had done something wrong when Merrick gave a ghost of a smile, which was more like a smirk for the man. 

“Washington won’t hold us down anymore. We’re going, despite what they will mark us as. The last few pockets of Federation are being taken down as we speak. For the moment, our job here is done. We’ve acquired a helicopter that we will take to L.A. and then we will save Logan,” their commanding officer told the two of them. Hesh finally let out a breath, relieved that Merrick had gotten his senses together so that they could go get Logan. 

What had happened next, surprised everyone in the room. Eclipse had run up to Merrick and gave him a big hug. Merrick stood there, frozen while looking down at her. His eyebrows were shot up and his jaw dropped. Keegan and Kick were standing there, blinking repeatedly. Hesh was inwardly surprised, but just smiled at her because he knew that she was that type of person to do something like that. 

“Thank you, Merrick! Thank you so much,” she said before letting go and running back to Hesh. She looked up at him, searching his eyes for something. “You made that promise that we will get him back, please help me.”

“I would never say no,” he smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. She smiled up at him before giving him a hug as well. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her. She was incredibly soft and warm against him and he loved that. But he locked those feelings away as he pulled away. He looked up at Merrick. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as you two are ready,” Merrick nodded. Hesh looked back down at Eclipse, who was still looking up at him.

“Let’s go get our boy back,” he said. He walked out of the command center with her right along behind him and they headed back into the barracks. It was sunny outside, warm and dry. Eclipse appeared to be skipping as she walked beside him. He didn’t say anything, but he just smiled. They entered the building and went to the locker room again. Hesh grabbed his armor, pulling it on over his clothes while Eclipse followed suit. She had a small backpack though, that she slipped her notebook into, along with some ammo. Hesh didn’t paint his face yet, but packed away the stuff he would use. He was the first one done this time as he stood by the door.   
Eclipse shrugged the backpack on, then got her weapons. Hesh was carrying a Honeybadger, waiting patiently and she was done in a few more moments. They walked out together, boarding the helicopter with Merrick, Keegan, and Kick already inside. It took off and soon they were flying through the sky. Hesh sat across from Eclipse, watching her as she gazed out of the helicopter to the world below and the sky above. Her hair was pulled back, but the ponytail whipped around a little bit. She looked excited and Hesh was as well, finally able to get there and rescue his little brother.


	10. Los Angeles

When they landed in Los Angeles, it was clear that they had been unexpected. There was a temporary base set up in the outskirts of the city and they had been working their way into the destroyed place to make sure the city was clear of Federation. They had begun their work here after the video of Logan had come out about a month before. The commanders of the base were unsure of what to do with five extremely angry Ghosts on their hands. They were angry because they had been given orders to deny the Ghosts entry to the city. 

“You are going to let us in, or I will personally kill you,” Eclipse was currently threatening one of them, who was paled and nervous. She had her combat knife out and had the tip pressed to his throat. Hesh walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She knew who it was behind her, so she just growled, narrowing her eyes at the man before slowly pulling away, backing up beside Hesh. Merrick was growling at the other, saying that he had the authority to bypass their orders, even though what he said next clearly showed that they didn’t.

“These orders came from POTUS himself. I can’t change them,” the commander admitted to Merrick, whose eyes went wide. The Ghosts all looked between each other. They couldn’t deny orders from the President himself, but when they all locked eyes, it became obvious that they were going to anyway. Merrick turned back to the man, hiding the smirk on his face as he crossed his arms and nodded, still appearing pissed off. 

“Fine, but we’re staying right here until those orders are lifted,” he growled at the commander. The man just shrugged and then motioned towards the camp, basically meaning they were allowed to make themselves comfortable because they would be waiting a long while, but the Ghosts knew they wouldn’t be waiting too long. Just until the night falls and then they would be in control, no one else.

Hesh and Eclipse stalked away to the corner of the camp, finding two tents next to each other. Merrick, Keegan and Kick were nearby in their own tents. Hesh knelt down, opening his tent and storing a couple things away inside while he saw Eclipse leaving her backpack inside hers. He then stood up, noticing the view. He motioned towards her and she tilted her head, curious as she followed him.

They stood on the edge of a slope that overlooked the ruined city. He stood there, arms crossed across his chest. He was scanning the wasteland for anything that would be a hint to the Federation’s location. Of course there was nothing, but noticed Eclipse wrapping her arms around herself. Her face had a look of pain on it. He uncrossed his arms, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, the pain so obvious in her eyes that he almost wanted to hold her until it was gone. 

“We’re here now, Eclipse,” Hesh told her softly. “It won’t be long until we have Logan back.” She nodded at him, looking out over the land again and he kept his hand on her shoulder, to assure her that she wasn’t alone. They watched until the sun had begun to set. Merrick called them over and the pair walked back to the camp, side by side and hands brushing. It took all of Hesh’s self control to not reach for her hand, but he felt a slender pinkie wrap around his. He would allow that much, as he wrapped his pinkie around hers in return. 

“Once the camp has turned in for the night, we will wait until the guards have done their first rounds and then we will go,” Merrick was explaining to them as a group. It was hushed so that none of the soldiers would catch onto what they were planning. Hesh nodded at his commander, knowing that this was the only way they were going to get into the city. As soon as the plan was formed, the dinner bell began to ring and the camp moved towards the mess hall. It wasn’t a very good meal, but it was better than nothing. 

Once the Ghosts were seated away from the rest of the soldiers, Hesh noticed many of the soldiers’ gazes on them. Some were in awe of the legendary soldiers, some were talking softly about the things they had done, but he was spitefully aware of the men gawking at Eclipse as she sat across from him, eating quietly. He turned his head, a death glare at those who turned to look at her. They would quickly turn away and go back to their meals before Hesh came over to kill them. He looked back over at Eclipse when he noticed her looking up at him, eyebrow raised. He simply smiled, going back to his meal. 

On their way out, Hesh noticed that Eclipse was wearing something around her neck. Something that wasn’t her dogtags. When they returned to their tents and sat down on the ground, he nodded toward her neck. 

“What’s that?” he asked her. She looked down and noticed that her necklace was hanging out. She reached back, unhooking it and then setting it on Hesh’s knee. It was a diamond snowflake that glimmered in the dark light. He widened his eyes, realizing what beauty it had. It didn’t look dirty or misty in the diamonds. She had clearly taken very good care of the necklace. 

“Logan’s gift to me when we began dating. I’m not sure where he had got it from, but I love it. I wear it for good luck on every mission and clean it afterwards,” she said, tilting her head as she watched it sparkle. Hesh picked it up, holding the tiny snowflake in his calloused and strong hand. It certainly fit Eclipse. She was unique, beautiful, and mysterious in the way it sparkled. He handed it back to her and she put it back on with a smile. 

“It’s beautiful. He loves you, you know,” Hesh said and she looked confused. “Logan. I’ve never seen him care for anyone like this before. Not even me, but we are boys, so things are different. He protects you like he does me though, that much I do know. I hope he takes good care of you, Eclipse, when we get him back.” Eclipse lowered her gaze with a nod and Hesh could almost sense a slight disappointment off her, but his attention was taken when another bell rang for the sleeping hours to begin. It was also the beginning of their plan as Hesh caught Merrick’s eye. The commander gave a slight nod and turned into his tent. Hesh did as well, with him watching Eclipse for a second as she crawled into her tent. 

Hesh laid there, all in his armor and waiting for the first patrol to walk by. He heard the footsteps befores seeing their shadows on the wall of his tent as they walked by. He waited until the steps were gone and he slowly unzipped his tent, seeing the other Ghosts slipping out as well. They were like the shadows as they zipped their tents back up and snuck into the trees. Once they were at the edge of the ruined city, Merrick turned towards them. 

“Alright, so Eclipse and Hesh, you both are going to patrol this area,” he said as he pulled up a GPS. He showed them their route together before showing Kick where he would go and then were he and Keegan were to go. Once the routes were established, they headed out. Hesh was careful as he crawled over burned out vehicles and downed power lines. Eclipse was more of the climber though as she climbed up the sides of buildings, across the roof, then back down to join his side. 

“Hesh, we should set up some traps,” she suddenly said, looking at him. He was surprised at her sudden request, not understanding why.

“Eclipse, is something wrong?” he asked in return. She looked around slowly, seeming much more tense than usual.  
“I don’t know, but something feels wrong,” she whispered softly. Hesh was about to tell her no before he began to think about it. She wouldn’t put them in harm’s way. So he trusted her judgement and they set up some explosive traps in the alleys and under certain cars and trucks. They were just down the street from their traps when something caught Hesh’s eye. He saw shadows moving down the road. Eclipse was behind him, so he turned around to tell her. He opened his mouth to speak, but saw her eyes widen slightly. Then his vision went black.


	11. Discovering the Truth

Hesh groaned, feeling some control of his body returning. But his head hurt terribly and his neck was so sore. He felt like he’d been hit in the back of the head. It was hard to focus, but he felt something warm running down the side of his face. There was also the feeling of arms around his chest. Someone was there, holding him. He slowly blinked a few times and squinted his eyes, trying to see the person. He felt something soft rubbing against his neck and he realized it was hair. When his vision became somewhat clear, he realized the hair was red and blue sapphire eyes were looking down at him. Eclipse was looking down at him, holding him in her lap when he felt legs under his back and she was holding a cloth, wiping away blood that was streaming down the side of his face. Memories started clicking into his head. They were in LA looking for Logan. They had been investigating some sort of disturbance, but then he didn’t remember anything past that. Hesh tried to open his mouth, but she placed her finger over his lips. 

“Quiet, Hesh, you’re still injured,” she murmured. Hesh blinked a few more times to clear his vision felt something wet and warm land on his cheek. She had tears coming down her face. “Logan was there…...He said that we were the horrible people,” Eclipse said with a cry. “He lead the ambush on us, it was a trap and he took us down, like a good soldier.” 

Eclipse was crying softly above him and Hesh wished he could make her stop crying. She didn’t deserve to have those tears fall. While she was doing this, Hesh started to look around at where they were at. They were hiding in a broken building, on the top floor, or so Hesh thought because he could see the stars in the sky. Eclipse was leaning against the wall and his head was on her lap, his body sprawled out. He groaned, trying to sit up but Eclipse kept him down.

“No, Hesh, you were hit, I can’t let you up yet,” she said, sniffling to push back the tears before wincing. Hesh had grabbed her ankle when he had tried to sit up and he felt it was swollen. She must have twisted her ankle while getting away.

“Eclipse, what happened? I don’t remember much,” he asked her. Eclipse closed her eyes while he looked up at her. She clearly didn’t want to cry anymore, despite knowing it was going to happen anyway.

“Logan was there. You and I were patrolling like Merrick told us to. You turned toward me to say something. I saw a shadow appear behind you and was about to say something, but you were hit over the head with the butt of a gun. You fell into my arms and I had to catch you. I looked up to see who hit you and it was him.” Eclipse paused as she gave a small sob. “He seemed to be looking right through me, like he didn’t even know who I was. He called me Dagger, he never ever, not in all the time I’ve known him, called me Dagger. He even reached out and punched me…….” She fell silent after saying this, the emotional wound appearing much deeper than Hesh had originally thought. 

“Eclipse, how did we get away?” Hesh encouraged her to speak further on it.  
“We were surrounded by Feds, they were about to shoot when I clicked my remote on the traps and they were distracted, so I picked you up on my shoulder and ran through the smoke.” She paused again, the tears beginning to fall once more. “He yelled after me, saying he was going to find us, Hesh. He’s not the Logan I know, he’s someone else. I just want him back, but now he’s further away than he ever was before.” This time, Hesh raised his hand up, gently wiping away her tears. She looked distraught. Hesh shook his head.

“Logan is not gone, we can still save him. He’s just confused,” Hesh told her quietly. Eclipse shook a little as she cried. After a while, Hesh sat up. His head was bandaged by her and she looked awful. Her hair was messy, she had spots of blood on her face, and her cheek was bruised. Hesh felt anger inflame in his chest when he saw the bruise. Logan had done that to her. Returning to his previous thoughts, he noticed that she didn’t even care for herself, she had spent all her energy on helping Hesh. It was then that he made a decision to help her. He knew that she needed rest, but she wouldn’t take yes for an answer. So he took a syringe out of the medkit that she had laying next to her. He injected it into her arm and she looked at him with a hint of surprise before her eyes slowly rolled back into her head and she started to fall to the side, but Hesh was there, catching her gently. He laid her down and moved down her body, gingerly taking her ankle into his hands.

Hesh massaged her ankle, to quell the swelling before putting a small ice pack over it. He stood up and took off his body armor. He lifted up Eclipse’s head and laid his armor under her so her neck would be more comfortable. He picked up his pistol, making sure it was loaded. He moved around the top part of the building. It appeared to be an old office building, with desks scattered about, some appearing to be burned, others tipped over and just a huge mess. He walked over to the “windows” and peered down. They were high up in a building around the area they had been ambushed. He got a pair of binoculars and looked down at the streets, being sure to use the thermal imaging to clear the darkness away. He didn’t see anyone right away, but down the street from where they were hiding, he saw people in army uniforms come out of a building. A masked man was with them, a skull painted on the mask when he clicked off the thermal. Logan. Hesh dropped the binoculars, barely hearing the dull thud as they hit the ground.

“Logan…….what did he do to you?” Hesh spoke to himself. He looked back at Eclipse. He needed to act quickly. Logan knew they were injured and that they were immobile. Hesh had to do something to get them out of here or they were going to be shot. He watched her sleeping face, thoughts rushing through his head. He knew the fluid he gave her would keep her knocked out for at least an hour, and that was when he knew he shouldn’t have, but at least she was resting and getting better. Hesh knelt down, gathering their supplies and packing it back in the medkit, putting the kit back into her bag. He grabbed his armor as he gently set her head down and put it back on. Taking a white bandage tape, he wrapped the ice pack to her ankle before he picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.

Hesh looked down, seeing the team clear another building, but Logan seemed to be focused on the building they were hiding in. He quickly ducked away from the edge and moved to the wrecked stairwell. He started making progress down the stairs and when he was about halfway down the building when he heard the door at the bottom opening and a moan. Eclipse had made a sound. He quickly ducked into the level of the building they were at. It appeared to be an old lounge area and he quickly went to the back, pushing open a fire escape door and looking down. The hinges holding the fire escape were rusty and broken, but Hesh had no choice but to trust it. Feeling the wind on his cheeks, he slowly made his way down the building, testing each spot before putting his whole weight on it. He was about 3 floors from the bottom when he heard a door above open up. He quickly ducked into a window sill, holding Eclipse against his body, holding his breath and cupping a hand over her mouth in case she moaned again. 

He heard the Federation talking above them and a familiar voice over the radio. “Check every inch of that building. This building held significance to Stalker Dagger, she will have likely found a place to hide with Hesh,” he said to the team. The Feds replied in their foreign language and Hesh heard the creaking of the fire escape as some Feds made their way down. Hesh felt his heart quicken in fear of being found when a crash was heard and screaming right after. A Fed fell past where they were hiding, broken from the fire escape, he had fallen all the way to the bottom. The Feds retreated into the floors of the building, going to check each floor by hand. 

Hesh had to go down quicker, he was running out of time. He picked Eclipse up, bridal style, and walked down in a faster pace than he did before. He was heavily breathing, nervous about the Feds nearby. At the bottom, he peered around the corner, seeing Logan standing there, looking up at the building. He was holding a Remington and there were four other Feds standing with him. He started to look over at the corner, so Hesh quickly retreated back. He breathed heavily, looking at the knocked out girl in his arms. He couldn’t try and get Logan back, not in this condition. So he started to go away, running down the alley.

Once he was a few blocks away, he stopped, setting Eclipse down against a wall in a shadowed alley. He found a spare radio in the medkit and clicked it on. He spoke into the radio, asking for help on their team channel when Kick’s voice came over.

“Hey, Hesh, we lost connection with you for a while, where did you go?” Kick asked.

“Kick, later. Eclipse and I are wounded somewhere near our intended patrol route. We were ambushed by some Federation shoulders and……..Logan,” Hesh said, slowing when he had to say Logan’ name. 

“Logan’s there? You need to try and take him down,” Kick said, pretty much ignoring all of the rest of it.

“Kick! We can’t, Eclipse and I are too injured to try and get him, we need evac and fast,” Hesh said, quietly. 

“Alright, alright! Use your GPS in the medkit to get to the rendezvous point, we’ll be there soon.”  
“Over and out,” Hesh said as he ended the call and opened the medkit, pulling out the small GPS. He turned it on and saw the point had been marked already. Voices coming closer made Hesh act quicker as he put the stuff away and picked up Eclipse again. He slung her over his shoulders, her head on his arm. He started moving again, working as quick as he could to get away from the approaching voices.   
As Hesh was moving, all he could think about was that mask. Their father’s mask on Logan, yet it wasn’t Logan under that. It was someone strange and foreign, someone that hated him and Eclipse, along with the rest of the Ghosts. This was all because Rorke had done something to his brother. Rorke was going to pay for taking away the most important person in his life and in Eclipse’s.


	12. Getting Permission

Hesh sat down on the ground, breathing heavily. He had gotten to the rendezvous point and was waiting for the rest of his team. Eclipse was still knocked out and had moved so that he was giving her a piggy back ride, her breath on his neck. When he sat down, he pulled her off his back gently and held her in his arms. He was looking around worriedly, not wanting to be ambushed when they were both vulnerable like this.

The last thing he expected to feel was a hand grasping his own. He quickly looked down and saw Eclipse’s tired sapphire eyes looking up at him through slitted eyes. She appeared to be mostly out of it although she was awake. “Hesh…..” She whispered through a sleepy sounding breath. 

“Shhh, Eclipse, you need to rest now,” Hesh said as he held her close. She made a strange humming sound, nuzzling her head into his shoulder. He was surprised and felt his heart leap in hope that she could be his, but he quickly smothered it. She probably was just tired and out of her mind from the the fluid. He was still aware of her hand grasping his and he waited quietly. 

It wasn’t long before the team was there. He had saw them before he heard them. They were down the street, slinking through the shadows in the darkness. He only picked them out because he knew their training and how they moved. The first one to reach them was Merrick and he quickly knelt down, seeing they were both injured. The commander was quiet as he looked over his two teammates and what they had. Eclipse still had the ice pack on her ankle, which was likely warm and useless now and Hesh still wore his bandages around his head.

“What happened?” Merrick asked Hesh, looking up at him. Hesh had to close his eyes for a moment as he prepared to tell what Eclipse had told him.

“Logan was there, he attacked both of us and knocked me out. Eclipse was able to carry me out of there and we hid. She was wounded, but she patched me up first. I had to inject her so she would rest because she was in no condition to be moving around. We just barely escaped from Logan and his patrol team,” Hesh explained as a short briefing. Merrick gritted his teeth, his jaw tightening as he offered his arms to Eclipse to hold her. But as he did this, Eclipse only cuddled herself further into Hesh’s arms. “I’ve got her, it’s okay.” Hesh stood up, holding her bridal style once more. Merrick picked up their backpacks as Keegan and Kick arrived. The night had been spent and the sun would soon arise. They returned to camp, empty-handed and heavy-hearted to their lost teammate. More lost than he had been before. 

Hesh crawled into Eclipse’s tent as he laid her down. She looked so peaceful when she slept, but he knew that wouldn’t keep once she awoke again. He tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear as he crawled back out, zipping up the tent. He would let her rest while the men took the heat for exploring L.A. against the orders of POTUS. He walked to where the other Ghosts were standing, being yelled at by other commanders. He joined them, willfully taking the heat for it. After the main commander was done, they asked for their explanation for disobeying orders.

“Because we lost one of our own, Marine,” Hesh couldn’t stop himself from saying. He stepped forward, face-to-face with the man. “You would never leave one of your own to die. We refused to leave a Ghost behind. Wouldn’t you disobey orders to retrieve one of your men?” The commander was silent as he stared down Hesh and Hesh stared him down in return. Eventually the man nodded and backed away.

“You have a fair point, Ghost. Alright, you may run night recon missions, but nothing more than that, and no one is to know of this,” he told them before turning away. Hesh let out a breath. He hadn’t expected to that, but apparently it had convinced him and now they had unofficial authorization to go in. He turned toward Merrick, who had slight smirk and Keegan and Kick who were nodding at him. Then there was a new person in a Ghost uniform walking toward them. Merrick seemed to recognize the man and nodded at him. 

“Neptune, I didn’t expect to see you out here,” Merrick told the man.

“I came because Ghosts don’t forget their fallen,” he had replied. Hesh had only met this Neptune on fleeting moments of missions. Neptune had been dispatched to find Torch and Grim after the war was over and had little doing with their own missions. Torch had been killed, but Grim was still MIA. “I was not surprised to find out you were here. It was only a matter of time before I joined up with you, Merrick.” Merrick seemed to nod. He had known better than to doubt that the last Ghost beside them would miss out on saving another. 

“Any information on Grim?” Merrick asked, growing solemn. Neptune slowly shook his head.

“I’ve only found little places where he may have been, but I still have not found his remains. However, I have heard of Elias’s choice in a secret Ghost. Dagger, I believe she is,” Neptune said, shifting almost nervously.

“Eclipse. That’s her name,” Hesh let slip out. It was soft, but clearly Neptune had heard him. The older Ghost said nothing more, but simply nodded at Hesh.   
“Is she still out cold?” Keegan asked, looking over at the man. He nodded as he thought about the girl he had left in her tent.  
“We’ll need a full debrief from her later on today, when she’s conscious again,” Merrick said before the four men walked away, talking to Neptune. Hesh was alone as he looked around the camp. There wasn’t much he could do at this moment, and not like he really wanted to, so he headed back to Eclipse’s tent to wait for her to awaken once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the delay! I've been having such a writer's block on what to do, that's why this chapter is so short. Besides this, I've been having troubles in my life, so things have been a roller coaster. I'll work on getting more chapters out soon.


	13. Waking Up

Eclipse felt her body slipping back into the world as she began to wake up. She groaned softly as she tried to shift around. Something quickly pressed into her shoulder, holding her still. That was unusual, she wasn’t allowed to move. Her eyes felt really heavy and she didn’t feel like opening them. However, the hand was warm on her shoulder and, in her dozy state, she hummed and rested her cheek on the hand. She could felt the hand tighten its grip for a moment before relaxing slightly.

She wasn’t sure where she was, but for some reason, she was too relaxed to really care about that fact. But, eventually, her mind started to become alarmed at the fact that she didn’t know who was keeping her down. Images flashed in her eyes of her lover Logan staring her down with a death glare, a pistol pointed straight at her forehead. She wanted to scream, but her mouth didn’t work. She started to struggle against the strength holding her down. Eclipse was scared and she wanted to get away.

“Shhh, Eclipse, it’s alright. It’s just me, Hesh,” a warm, strong voice comforted her, somewhere near her ear. Images flashed by her eyes again, of a smile always there for her, of a man who knew how to make her laugh despite her pain. She opened her eyes. Her vision was clear as she saw the man kneeling above her. Hesh was watching her carefully, his forest green eyes staring down into her sapphire blue eyes. 

“Hesh…..” she whispered, a smile creeping on her face. She raised her hand, placing it on his cheek. She could see a hint of pain in his eyes before he slowly pulled away. Her emotions became confused as to why he was pulling away. Had she done something wrong?

“You’ve been asleep for the entire day, Eclipse,” Hesh told her. She felt the memories returning one by one. The sadness crept in when the memories all returned, knowing what had happened and there was no way to change it. With that sadness, came a sense of hopelessness. Her Logan, her lover and friend, was lost to the madness and pain that Rorke had put him through.

“Hesh, what’s going to happen?” she whispered up to him. He stared down at her, silent for a moment before replying.

“The commander has allowed us unofficial recon missions during the night to keep looking for Logan. The night is a couple hours out and Merrick has ordered that you stay here during this night and I was assigned to watch over you,” he said, not catching on to what she really meant.

“No, Hesh, what’s going to happen with us and Logan?” Eclipse said, whispering it even softer than she had asked the first question. His physical reaction was small, but the emotional reaction in his eyes was like a storm. He looked in pain, sad, worried, and all those negative emotions when someone knew something bad was going to happen.

“We have to stay strong, Eclipse. If we fall apart, then we lose all hope of getting Logan back to us. There’s a way to bring him back to us, we just need to find it,” Hesh said as he moved around, letting his gaze drop from hers as he picked up a tray of food. “Now, sit up and eat, we can’t let you lose your strength.” Eclipse, despite wanting to continue the conversation, let it fall and she slowly sat up and ate the food he offered to her. When he left the tent to return the tray to the mess hall, Eclipse watched the sunlight on the wall of her tent. It was turning orange as the sun began to set and soon it would be dark. Merrick and the rest of the team would be going out to the city once more to find Logan. 

Closing her eyes, Eclipse took a deep breath. Her heart throbbed in her chest from the pain of losing Logan, but also because of the pain she felt when Hesh would pull away from her touch. Was she losing both men? She had Logan as her lover, but now he was lost away. Hesh had never been hers and she had never been his, but there was something there, a tension that she couldn’t ignore. It made her heart dance around in her chest, the feeling that she got with him. What was she to do? She opened her eyes, pulling down her sleeve slightly. She saw the tattoo of the rose and touched the petals. Logan’s love was in this ink, but then she pulled down her other sleeve to the other wrist. She had drawn a blue morning glory with her ink markers. It would stay for a long time until she had it tattooed permanently. 

Hesh came back into the tent at this time, glancing at her before settling in the corner of her tent, arms crossed as he sat there. He leaned his head back against the post of the tent, closing his eyes. Eclipse saw how tired he was and she let him rest as she laid down. She waited until she could hear his sleeping breath and she crept out of the tent. It was chilly at night and Eclipse was in her army tank-top and her pants and boots. She wrapped her arms around herself as she stepped towards the cliff that overlooked the city. The moon was high in the sky already and the stars shined above. She watched over the city for a while.   
Then she made a choice. She would give it a chance. The future was a terrifying thing at this moment, and she didn’t know what tragedies or miracles it would bring. There was one thing she did know, and it was something that she was going to stick to. Her life was her own choice and the boys would have to understand that, both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry for those who have been waiting for this next chapter. I've been busy with my personal life, with my graduation from high school coming up, things have been very hectic around my home. The good thing is that I'm over my writer's block and hope to have chapters for this story incoming very soon. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter from Eclipse's view. The next one will be a very unique view that you will see.


	14. Eyes

The moon seemed closer tonight then it had been in a long time. The air still smelled burnt from all those years ago when the city was destroyed. Sometimes there were still even fires that would catch randomly. Far above the ground level, the wind blew around. It was cold, but he didn’t feel it. The cold had become his friend while the warmth had been extinguished from his body. In fact, he didn’t feel a lot of things anymore. With emotions that meant nothing, unless they were feelings of anger and hatred, the man was an empty husk of nothing. His brown eyes scanned the horizon of the city. The sun had set maybe an hour before and the only thing that illuminated the city landscape was the bright moon above. It would perfect to hunt tonight. They were in there somewhere and it was his job to find them. A hand touched his shoulder and he turned to find another set of brown eyes watching him. 

“One failure doesn’t make you the worst hunter. It’s a mistake that you will learn from,” the other man said, tightening his bandana. “They deserve what’s coming to them, every single one of them. It may take some hunting, but eventually, they will fall.” With that, the man turned around and headed across the rooftop while the other man looked back out across the city. He touched his face, a mask hiding his true identity, but to any who knew this mask, they knew exactly who he was. He pulled it off his head and stared down at it. The white skull on the fabric stared back up at him. He tucked it back into his jacket and pulled out a small mirror that he used for shaving. The man looking back at him was unusual this time. His brown eyes looked deep and wide while his short blonde hair puffed up a bit in the wind. 

When he closed his eyes for a moment, there were images that he wasn’t sure where they came from. Sapphire eyes stared up at him in horror, a bruise appeared on the skin, and red hair looked wild. Then another image, of forest green eyes wide in surprise, the skin cut a bit, and short brown hair that was covered in paint. He snapped his eyes open, surprised to feel his numb heart throb slightly in his chest. 

What did those eyes mean to that numb organ in his chest? He had seen them only once, but they were locked inside his mind forever. It was unusual that they were affecting him this much. He hated them for what they had done to him. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a picture that had been taken by spies. The blue eyes and the green eyes were staring into each other, the rain falling around them. His heart throbbed more, this time with a hatred that burned inside him. The green eyes were betraying him and his trust. They were seducing the blue eyes and he wanted to kill the green eyes.

Turning away from the edge, he headed back down the building while tucking away the picture that inflamed the anger inside him every time he looked at it. He pulled his mask back out and donned it on himself again. Heading down the stairs of the building, he was so focused on the fury that he had that he missed a step. He went crashing down on the steps before him, his head slamming into a metal pipe. His mind blackened into darkness, but eventually, a scene was before him. He was watching an encounter of his own brown eyes and a pair of sapphire blue eyes that looked at him with such love that he almost lost his breath. 

It quickly changed to a scene he had never seen before. He was watching over the sapphire eyes as they moved across a camp, straight towards a pair of tents. The eyes ducked inside and he, almost like a ghost, followed. Inside, the green eyes were closed, leaning up against a pole of the tent. The sapphire touched the green and the green opened, looking surprised. The sapphire was saying something, but he could not hear the words. The green responded, looking resistant, but sapphire persisted until they were laying together. Sapphire’s back pressed against green’s chest and green kept an arm around sapphire. 

Gasping, he sat up as his mind clicked back into reality. He was still laying on the bottom of the steps after his fall. He stood up, still wobbly and headed down the stairs, more carefully than he had before. The image was stuck in his mind, of the two pairs of eyes laying with each other. It made his heart lurch and made him feel sick to the stomach. How were images affecting him so dearly? It didn’t make any sense. But as he stepped outside to the street, his eyes hardened into a brown stone as he commanded some soldiers to follow him.  
Hesh was stealing his world. There was no way that he was going to let Eclipse go. Logan was going to kill Hesh, that for sure, is what Logan knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a little confusing, but for those who understand, Logan knows what's happening between Hesh and Eclipse. The next few moves, well, things are about to get a little more interesting.


	15. The Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is about Eclipse and we get to find out that she's a bit softer on the inside than she appears.

The morning sun reflected on the wall of the tent as Hesh woke up. He yawned, wondering when he had fallen asleep. He was groggy, but not groggy enough to realize that there was a heat pressed against his chest and his arm was wrapped around a body to keep it close. Snapping awake, he realized he was staring at the back of a red head. Soft breaths moved his arm up and down as the body in front of him slept. He wanted to move, but yet didn’t. He stared at the red hair before him, feeling its softness tickling at his neck. Closing his eyes, he remembered his brother was still this body’s boyfriend. So as gentle as he could, he untangled himself from her. 

Hesh sat beside her, taking a moment to look down at her and study her beauty. Her face was so peaceful and gentle as she slept. Her chest moved up and down rhythmically as she breathed. Her cute little nose flared slightly with each breath and her lips trembled only slightly. The sight took Hesh’s breath away. He wished he could kiss those trembling lips, see if they were as soft as he imaged them to be. He was jealous of Logan, knowing that he had captured the most beautiful lioness in the world. She was a lioness because she protected those she considered her own, she’s proud, confident, and beautiful as well as the fact that she was so very strong.

The guilt laid in next. He had slept beside his brother’s girlfriend and he knew, deep down, she was doing this because she was scared that she would lose everyone she ever knew. She had lost her father-like figure of Elias a year ago and Logan was the only other true friend she had. She was latching onto him because if she lost Logan forever, she’d be alone and she hated that idea. So Hesh took a deep sigh, only to hear a murmur in return.

“It’s cold now,” her soft, beautiful voice came floating over to him. He had to resist to smiling as he frowned and got up and moved back over to his spot by the pole. 

“Then it may be time to get up, Eclipse. We can move around to warm up,” he stated flatly. She groaned slightly as she buried her face in her pillow. He simply shook his head and he put on his jacket again and stepped out of the tent. Casting his gaze around the camp, Hesh felt more at home here than he had anywhere else. The camp itself was tucked slightly into a forest, so to be hidden from plain sight. The trees were similar to the ones that he grew up training in with Logan. The training yells from the other soldiers were heard across the camp and it was comforting to hear that. 

As Hesh was standing there, waiting for Eclipse to get ready for the day, he came to notice a gray shape racing through the trees. Right behind it was a black and brown shape. Narrowing his eyes, he studied the racing shapes and came to realize that it was the two dogs. Riley was chasing after Eclipse’s Lucia and Hesh also realized that Lucia was carrying a piece of meat in her mouth. He smiled slightly as he realized they were playing a game with each other. They soon came racing into the camp and Riley jumped on Lucia right infront of Hesh. He listened to the dogs playful whines as they wrestled around for the slab of meat. They stopped as the meat finally tore in half and the two dogs seemed to stare at each other before happily eating their own pieces. 

Once Lucia had finished her piece, the wolf seemed to stare at the German Shepherd as he finished his own piece. Riley stared back before making a gentle whine and Lucia’s ears perked slightly as she barked softly back. Hesh felt like was watching a little love scene as Lucia laid down beside Riley and his dog began lapping at her ears, nipping at her every so often. It seemed that the wolf and the dog had become a little more than just friends and partners. 

“I think they like each other,” Eclipse whispered into Hesh’s ear as she came out of the tent. She was in her uniform like usual, but she was wearing gray instead of black to blend in better with building in the city. Hesh quickly moved away from her, not turning to look back at her as he walked towards the command center.

“Let’s just see what Merrick and the others have found,” he said, his voice slightly rough. He didn’t dare turn around. He knew if he saw the hurt in Eclipse’s eyes that he would only take her into his arms and apologize. He had to hurt her, to keep her from getting too close. 

When he entered, he was aware that Eclipse didn’t follow and he wasn’t surprised, but he really didn’t want to see her face. He saw Merrick and the others conversing with their findings and Hesh went over to join them.

 

Eclipse watched as Hesh walked away and her heart sank. What had she done? He had not pulled away when she pulled him down to sleep, yet here he was acting rough with her. Her pain deepened when he didn’t even turn to look at her. Even the two dogs looked confused at the scene. The tears formed in her eyes without her command and she stepped back before turning and heading into the woods behind the tents. Lucia barked and whined as she took off after Eclipse. The wolf had a keen intuition about Eclipse’s feeling and even she knew something was wrong. 

She wrapped her arms around herself as she walked through the trees. The morning sun was on her back, but she didn’t care too much for it. Lucia whined at her legs, but her ears were deaf. All this time without love, all these months without a single affection shown towards her. Since Logan’s disappearance, Hesh had been the one she had gotten affection from, finally. He had defended her in front of the other Ghosts, even when she knew they were right. Now he was pulling away, losing him like she had Logan. Why was this her burden? Why was there so much pain and anguish that she had to suffer through? Would it ever end?

Wiping away the tears, she watched her feet as she continued walking. Where she was going, she wasn’t quite sure, but she didn’t care all that much. However, she stopped when she let her feet bump into a concrete slab. Looking up, her eyes widened in surprise. Her feet had led her to a place she never thought she would see again in her life. The place her parents had raised her until they had died. The small house was no longer it’s pretty blue color, but blackened with soot. The door was broken off its hinges and the windows were broken. The house was rumored to be haunted, even when her family had lived here, and with the death of her parents, the house had been abandoned and no one ever bought it. When the strikes destroyed L.A., the house stayed the way it was since she was a child.

Eclipse stepped into the doorway, peeking around the corner to the left. It was dark in the house, but the morning sun shone through the open holes in the wall that used to be windows. She could see the dining table still set the way it had been since her childhood. The chairs were knocked over though and the table looked a bit rough. Looking to her right, she saw into the living room. Her toys were still scattered across the floor and the tv was considered ancient technology now. She stepped into the house and felt a wave of sadness. It had been years since she had been here. She walked into the dining room, seeing the kitchen right ahead. Going in, she saw the cupboards had been raided of food, probably by wild animals. She stood up on her tiptoes, casting her gaze around the cupboard. There was a tiny jar still laying in the back, unopened. She reached in and pulled it out. Blowing the dust of the label, she saw that it read, “Mommy’s honey.” 

Smiling, Eclipse remembered this tiny jar that was filled with honey. She had been helping her mom with a little beehive they had in the backyard and her mom always would jar up the honey to sell, but this little jar was just for Eclipse herself and she had wrote the label. She opened the jar and smelled it. It was smelled sweet, just like it always had. She took a lick at it and loved the taste. She screwed the cap back on, wanting to save it for as long as she could. She tucked it away in her jacket before exploring the rest of the house. When she went upstairs, she looked to her left and she saw the door into her old bedroom. It was still pink, although extremely faded now and her scribbled name that she had done was on the door too.

She pushed open the door slowly and was hit was the faint smell of the perfume that her mother used to wear. Eclipse let the tears start to fall then, having memories of being nuzzled in her mother’s arms and having her mother pick her up as a child. She looked around the faded pink room, with toys that were broken and laying around. When her eyes touched the bed, she quickly ran over and picked up a small pink and white blanket. She buried her face in it. It still smelled like her mother and she smiled while she cried in the fabric. She was given this as a baby and it meant the world to her. When she was given over to her uncle, she was never allowed to take anything from home because of him. 

She looked at the blanket as she pulled her face away. She held it close to her chest as she walked out and across the hallway, into her parents’ room. It smelled so much like her father. She saw an old box sitting on the bed. It had beautiful designs on the old oak wood and it appeared to be sealed. Curious, she made her way over to the box. The seal was set pretty good and it took some muscle for Eclipse to break it open. Slowly pulling up the lid and reaching inside, Eclipse picked up a picture of her parents, with her tucked between them. Her mother was beautiful, with her long orange-red hair and her shiny green eyes. Eclipse could see how much she was like her mother. Her father had dark brown-red hair and had freckles across his face. His blue eyes reflected in the picture and little Eclipse was between them. She couldn’t believe how little and young she had looked all those ages ago. Now she was a tough, calloused woman with scars over her body. This girl was so innocent and fragile. 

She tucked the picture away and reached in again, pulling a letter that was still sealed. It had Eclipse’s name on it. She set down her blanket on the box and opened the sealed letter. It was written in her mother’s handwriting.

“My little Eclipse, happy 5th birthday. You won’t understand this letter now, we haven’t completely taught you how to read yet. But one day, I hope you’ll find this. I want to write a letter for every birthday you ever have. Right now, you’re going to start getting ready for kindergarten. You’re so excited to go there and learn things. You’ve been running around with books, asking your father and I to read to you every day. I love watching you grow up, my little daughter. You are your father and I’s entire world. 

Just the other day, you were letting your father teach you some of his techniques that he learned from the army. He wants to make sure you can protect yourself in this toughening world. One day, we won’t be around to protect you from the world and its problems. As much as we wish we could. But that’s alright, I know you will be the smartest, toughest girl that will walk this earth. You are also the most beautiful. More beautiful than I have ever been and will ever be. You will be a star in someone’s life one day. That lucky man better know just how lucky he will be. I hope your father and I will be able to approve him. He’d better be sweet and loving and take care of you to the best of his abilities. 

You’re calling my name now, my child. You want to go out for your birthday party. I’m going to finish out this letter now. I love you, my beautiful little girl. Your father and I will love you forever and always, no matter what happens. - Your Mother, Abby”

Eclipse felt the tears falling when half way through the letter. She saw her mother’s words and how she wanted to watch her daughter grow up. But she hadn’t. Her life was cut away along with her father’s and Eclipse had lost her family to the world of death. She used the back of her hand to wipe away her tears and she tucked the letter away in her jacket as well. Eclipse looked into the box one last time and noticed something small lying at the bottom of the box. When she pulled it out, she realized that it was her father’s combat knife. She remembered her father sharpening it every night and teaching her how to do it too one night when her mother was gone. 

She sheathed it on her side and stepped out of the room, carrying the pink blanket. When she walked downstairs, she heard something in the backyard. Turning the corner, she walked to the back of the house and peered out the door. She swore she was dreaming because she was watching her parents play with her as a child. Little Eclipse was running around, with her father chasing her. 

“You can’t catch me, daddy!” she was saying, giggling as she ran around. Her mother was sitting under the tree, watching with a smile on her face. When her father caught her, he picked her up and brought her to her mother. He put Eclipse in her lap and wrapped his arms around both her mother and her. The tree was alive and blooming, with petals from its flowers falling down. The grass was green and the sun was shining around them. Eclipse watched the tiny happy family before slowly opening the door. The back yard was destroyed, with blackened ground and the tree was shriveled and dead. 

Eclipse walked to the tree where her vision parents and her had been sitting. There was something carved in the tree and Eclipse knelt down to get a better look. It was a note from her father, as she remembered him carving it ages ago. “This place is safe, my dear Eclipse.” The woman stood back up, still holding the blanket as she looked around. This place was a memory of a little girl who knew nothing but the love of her parents and the sunshine of the sun above. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. For a moment, she could smell the flowers and the honey, then the smell of her parents. She swore she felt arms wrapped around her, holding her tight and a whisper heard on the breeze.

“Follow your heart.” When she opened her eyes, she saw a white skull on a black mask, with brown eyes looking into her own.


	16. Disappearance

The sun was setting and the group of Ghosts was preparing to leave for another recon mission. Hesh had been careful to avoid their tent areas at all costs and made sure Eclipse was no where in the mess hall when he sat down to eat. Something he did notice was Riley, laying at the edge of the camp, looking out to the trees. The dog looked lonely without his wolf companion. That had sparked some thought in Hesh’s head before he was drawn away by another thought. For the moment, he was preparing for their mission when he noticed Merrick approaching him, all suited up and ready for their mission. The commander appeared to be looking for something and when he got close, Hesh stood up.

“We’re ready, but we didn’t see Eclipse preparing for the mission. You were on watch duty of her to make sure she was healed for tonight’s mission. Where is she at?” Merrick asked and Hesh became nervous. He actually hadn’t seen Eclipse all day long because he was careful to avoid her. He was supposed to be watching her though, and he had skipped out on that duty because of personal feelings.

“She’s probably at our tents,” Hesh said before turning towards the tents. Merrick followed behind him as the other Ghosts joined their sides. They stopped respectfully outside the tent while Hesh ducked in. Hesh’s blood went cold. Eclipse wasn’t anywhere in the tent, but there was an unfamiliar pink and white blanket, along with a picture laying in her spot. He knelt down and picked up the picture. A man and woman with a little girl between them were smiling at the camera. The little girl looked strikingly like Eclipse while the two adults had a similarity to her as well. Hesh was surprised because this, what he believed, was a picture of Eclipse before her parents died in the accident. But it made Hesh nervous further because Eclipse wasn’t here, but this stuff was. 

Carrying the picture back out, he looked at his team, who were staring at him, confused. He looked back down at the smiling little girl before up at Merrick. “Eclipse isn’t in the tent. I haven’t seen her all day,” he admitted softly. The commander’s face turned stoney.

“Well, then where is she?” he said gruffly before alerted barking caught their attention. Turning their eyes to the forest edge, Riley was standing up now, alert and barking. A gray shape was moving slowly through the trees toward the dog and Riley rushed ahead, grabbing the back of the gray as its legs crumpled. The Ghosts rushed towards the dog and the gray shape. When close enough, Hesh realized that the gray shape was Lucia, but she was heavily wounded. Her fur was red with blood from deep cuts on her back, throat, and legs. The wolf looked close to death as she opened her eyes, searching the men before landing on Hesh. She made the softest whine before her head drooped to the ground. Riley started whining and howling as he slowly let Lucia fall limp. Merrick called a soldier over.

“Take this wolf to the infirmary and tell them to do whatever they can to keep the wolf alive,” he ordered and the soldier picked up Lucia, running off with her. The worst part about seeing her that way was her limp tail. Every time Hesh had seen the wolf, her tail had been wagging with joy. Now it wasn’t moving an inch and the wolf wasn't making a sound. Merrick was quick to act, kneeling down as he looked at Riley. “Follow this blood.” The dog quickly responded as he sniffed the blood pool of Lucia’s. The German Shepherd turned, running back off into the forest as he followed the trail. 

The Ghosts team was right behind the dog, with Hesh following as close as he could. Inwardly, his heart was filled with dread. He had avoided Eclipse all day long, but if he had not been so selfish, he would have realized she was gone the whole day and that something was wrong. How long she had been in trouble, Hesh couldn’t be sure. All he knew was the last time he looked at her, she was standing outside the tent. 

The run after the dog took a while, but Riley stopped before a blackened house, sniffing the doorstep. There was blood splattered across the concrete slab and Hesh knew that it was from Lucia herself. The Ghost team raised their guns as they entered the house, clearing each room. When the house was clear, Hesh felt his heart racing. Where was Eclipse? He was walking through the house when he stepped on an old picture frame. He leaned down, picking it up and brushing the dirt off the picture. It was another picture of a little red-haired girl as she smiled for the camera. This had to have been where she had lived as a child. 

A gentle breeze brushed against Hesh’s cheek and he looked up. There was a back door that was swinging back and forth as it was open. There was something laying out in the grass and Hesh stepped outside. It was quiet in the back yard, seeming almost peaceful, but that only made Hesh’s hairs stand on end. He approached the item in the grass and realized it was a combat knife. The thing that made Hesh choke slightly though was that the blade had blood on it. He picked it up, as gingerly as he could and studied the blood. It was still wet and dripping off. It was recent. 

“Hesh, the house is clear,” Merrick said as he joined his side, the other Ghosts right behind him. Hesh looked up at him as he held the combat knife over towards Merrick. The commander’s eyes went slightly wide. “Blood that’s recent. Something happened here.” Hesh nodded in agreement as he studied the area. It didn’t look like any struggle had occurred, but the blood seemed to say otherwise. Hesh turned slightly and whistled. Moments later, Riley came dashing through the house towards the group of men. Hesh knelt down and let Riley sniff the blood on the knife.  
“Follow,” Hesh whispered to the dog and the dog quickly responded, taking off into the bushes behind the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologize that I didn't post anything sooner. I'm having the most horrid writer's block. I haven't been able to write anything for over a month and it's bothering me. I'm also really sorry that this one is short. The next chapter will be from a different point of view and didn't want to spoil anything. Also, if anyone wants to offer encouragement to write, that'll really help.


	17. Plans

It was cracking slightly, that he could tell. Watching him, he knew it was cracking because of her. That had to change, before it was too late and his soldier was lost forever. Rorke watched as Logan dragged Eclipse through their camp, her hands tied behind her back and a mask over her face. She must have been gagged too because there were no words that came from her mouth. A feeling struck inside him, but he quickly brushed it aside as he followed his servant. Logan was dragging her to the interrogation room, as he had been ordered too, but it was slower than normal. 

He waited until she was in the room and tied down by Logan before making him leave. Once the man was out of the room, Rorke leaned down, being eye-level with the mask. He smirked as he ripped it off her head and saw the girl underneath. Her bright, fiery blue eyes glared at him as she huffed. There was indeed a gag in her mouth, tied around the back of her head. Her hair was messy, tangled from what looked like a fight. He knew she was not going to come easily, especially when it was her lover who was kidnapping her. He had forced Logan to give her up when he was brainwashing him. He knew that if Logan had a lover, it would be easier for him to break unless the issue was addressed. 

“So, you’re Eclipse Tower, the girl who is Logan’s lover,” Rorke commented casually. She snarled at him through the gag, narrowing her eyes at him. She struggled with her ropes, wanting to free herself, but she had been tied down very well. He slapped her and she stopped instantly. She raised those blue orbs back up at him. The two held each other’s gaze for a while. “You have been a nuisance for a while now, always searching for Logan, which is problematic for someone trying to control him. Now you’re here and in my control.” Rorke stood up and took his knife from his side. He held the blade against her cheek and she winced at the touch of cold metal. 

“You see, I have a plan for you and it will be fairly interesting. Logan will lose the only crack in his brainwashing and you won’t be interfering anymore,” he said before he slashed the blade across her face, causing a deep cut over her cheek, which began to bleed furiously, dripping down her chin. She winced, but made no sounds from it. “You will also give me all the information I need on the rest of the Ghosts.” He turned and knocked on the door. It opened and in stepped a Ghostly masked man. He stared down at Eclipse and she stared back, her eyes becoming filled with pain. 

“You called?” he said, his voice rough. She looked like she’d been struck by his words. Rorke simply laughed as he saw her pain. He moved around behind her and had his lips by her ear. Logan simply continued looking down at them. 

“Your own lover has just kidnapped you and brought you to the one person you’ve been trying to destroy for so long. That must burn into your heart a bit, doesn’t it?” he whispered as he smirked. Eclipse struggled, shaking her head and trying to speak through her gag. Rorke was able to make out the words, “not his choice” and he smiled more evilly. “Not his choice, huh? I think it was. After all, Logan had been abandoned by you and Hesh after I took him away. He realized that you both had betrayed him and that you both betrayed him even more when you were seen together.” Rorke looked up at Logan with a small nod and the man reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a picture. The other man took it and held it infront of Eclipse, watching her eyes go wide. 

She was staring into the eyes of Hesh as he knelt by the chain link fence, the silence almost stretching out from inside the picture. He could see the internal conflict happening in her eyes. This was what Rorke wanted and then as she stared at the picture, he looked up at Logan. “You see? She stares at this picture because she knows she has feelings for your brother too. She isn’t in love with you anymore.” Eclipse’s response was immediate as her head snapped up, looking into Logan’s eyes as she shook her head, struggling in the chair and making sounds.

Rorke grabbed her sleeve and yanked it up, revealing the ink drawing of a blue morning glory. When Rorke returned his gaze to his slave, he found that the man’s jaw was straining as he gritted his teeth, the fire of fury in his eyes was wild. He lifted his lip slightly in a look of disgust as he stepped away from Eclipse. The evil man looked at her reaction, seeing the breaking of her heart in her eyes. The fire in her blue orbs had died down now, being replaced with pure pain. This was so beautiful that it elicited a evil laugh from his lips. 

“Oh, would you look at this? Little Eclipse has realized that she has lost her friend and lover. Soon she’ll lose the interest that she has as well. That’s too bad…..unless…..you give me what I want. The information and more,” he said as he knelt down in front of her. Her head drooped, hiding the tears that he could see were threatening her eyes. “Come on….save the one thing you have left.” He reached behind her head, untying the gag.

With a soft voice, she told him some of what he wanted to know, but not all of it. He knew this and stood up. He faced Logan, who looked back at him. Time for the plan to be put into action. He stepped to the side and let Logan step close to her. She looked up at him, hearing his movement. Her eyes had a slight glimmer of hope…...that vanished when Logan slammed his fist into her cheek. 

She didn’t even look in pain, just shock as she stared up at him. Her cheek quickly bruised and bled from the hit, yet she still didn’t even register it. Rorke saw her heart completely shatter in that moment. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing or feeling, that he knew. Logan breathed heavily, clenching his fists tightly beside him. His knuckles were barely touched, with only a hint of blood on them. 

“Logan, it’s time to finish our plan,” the man whispered. Logan reached to his side, pulling out what he knew was the plan. A .44 Magnum. He opened the chamber, spinning it around. A single gold glint shown from inside and he made sure that she saw it. He spun it again before clicking it back into place. There was one bullet in there, but one bullet was all it was going to take. He held it up to her forehead and she stared at him with the most horrified eyes that Rorke had ever seen, even more than when Ajax had been tortured or even Logan during his brainwashing.  
Logan had a vision from not that long ago, of bright blue eyes staring up at him in shock and horror with a bruise on her upper cheek. While he had that, she was thinking of her nightmare, of Logan staring down at her with a death glare and a gun pointed at her forehead. Rorke smirked as he watched the two lovers, one about to kill the other. “Do it.”

Logan pulled the trigger.


	18. Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This chapter is all a smutty mess, which means it's a scene. If you feel uncomfortable with this, please don't read. For those that do, sorry about it being so reckless. I'm still learning with these types of scenes. Hope you enjoy!

“Logan, this is crazy,” Eclipse said, her voice soft, but her tone was serious.

“Eclipse, I don’t have a choice. We have to go into No Man’s Land. This mission is important,” he responded, meeting her eyes. The two were having a quiet argument about him going into a hot zone with only his brother being his backup. He was okay with it of course, but she could feel the fear deep in her heart. This wasn’t what she wanted him to do, because she knew how dangerous it was. She had gone in plenty of times, but she never mentioned that to him because he would just use it as an argument to aid himself. 

She turned away from her best friend, wrapping her arms around herself as she walked across the bedroom. They were in a bedroom in the Command Center. It was night outside, the night after Logan had been told they were going to be dispatched to his hometown to investigate. Everyone else was upstairs and they were in the basement, as many of the bedrooms were to prevent from an attack. She stood, her face to the wall and her back to him.

“Please…...don’t do this. If I lost you…..” she breathed, her voice beginning to crack and the tears starting to well up. She turned, looking back at Logan. The tears fell. “I’m not sure what I would do….”

He stopped at seeing this, seeing how much he really meant to her. That was when it hit him. She loved him and he loved her back. He stepped over to the crying girl, touching her shoulder and turning her toward him before pulling her into a hug. She cried into his chest, being too short to reach his shoulder. He held her tightly, arms wrapped around her completely with his head resting on hers. He reached up with one hand, stroking her soft hair.

“I know that you don’t want me to, but I have to. It’ll be okay, I have Hesh with me and I’m sure there will be some others down the line too,” he murmured softly. “But no matter what, we’ll be together.” She shook her head with another cry. He smiled and pulled back, lifting her chin with a touch of his hand. She met his eyes, her own becoming red from the tears. He continued smiling. “Yes, we will because we are connected here…..” He placed a hand on her heart and she looked a bit surprised. 

“I love you, Eclipse. I always have, and I always will,” he whispered. She looked speechless for a moment before that wonderful bright smile appeared on her face.

“I love you, Logan,” she replied. He cupped her cheek in his hand, slowly drawing her in. His eyes began to fall shut as her own did. Their lips met and they shared each other’s very first kiss. He couldn’t comprehend how incredibly soft her lips were and he wanted more, kissing her more and deeper. She obliged him happily, kissing him back. Her arms wrapped around his neck and his own around her waist, the kissing continuing on for a long few minutes. When they pulled away, they were panting, but smiling. Logan made a decision in his mind as he gently walked her towards the bed until she fell back and he slowly moved on top of her. 

“Eclipse, please…...I want to be connected to you always and forever,” he whispered to her. She blushed, the red spreading across her white cheeks. Then, after a heartbeat or two, she nodded and pulled him down against her chest. She found his lips again, kissing them quickly. She ran her hands over his chest, feeling the hardened lines under the fabric while he ran a hand up her hip, causing her to shiver slightly.

She wanted him, she wanted this. For years they had denied each other this and now they would finally have it. She reached down, pulling up his shirt slowly and he pulled back from the kiss, letting her pull it off him before he leaned back down, kissing up and down her neck. She ran her hands over his muscled back, moaning ever so softly. Logan’s ears were ringing at that sound. It was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. So he continued kissing her neck until he found a spot that made her gasp. He grinned against her soft skin, licking and sucking on that spot. This elicited the most beautiful moans out of her mouth and caused Logan’s body to respond in a way it had before, with thoughts of her and the sounds she could make. 

Her skin felt like it was on fire with the places that he had laid his lips and only continued to make her hotter. That hotness began to travel down to a lower place, getting her to squirm slightly. It was then that she felt him in return, the hardness against her stomach. She became breathless with excitement. It felt so good and she never wanted him to stop. But he did, which caused her to whine loudly. He knelt above her with a smile on her face and she was panting, red-faced, and breathless. She decided it was time to turn the tables. She smiled back, in a dark way as she bucked her hips up, dislodging his weight and flipping them around so she was on top. 

“Oh, Logan, you make my body go wild,” she whispered as she slowly reached down to the bottom of the tank top she was wearing, untucking it and pulling it off. She could see the hunger in his eyes and he tried to reach up, but she swatted his hands away. “So impatient,” she tsked and swayed her hips, her hands reaching up behind her and unhooking her bra. He groaned when it hung loosely on her body. Eclipse knew he wanted her to remove it, so he could see the hidden perky nipples, but she wanted to taunt him. Letting it continue to hang loosely, her hands traced down the lines of his muscular chest and found his belt, undoing it in such a slow, agonizing way that she was sure he was going to attack her soon.

After his belt was off, she pulled off her bra and the effect was instantaneous in Logan. His breath hitched, his eyes dilated, and she could feel the hardness straining against his pants. She knew he wanted to touch, in fact, she could feel his hands twitching beside her. Eclipse then started to unzip her pants, letting the sound sink into his mind before she let them slide off her body easily. Now only in her panties, she leaned down, kissing his lips for only a brief moment before letting the kisses trail down his chin, throat, chest, stomach, and finally down to where she knew he was wanting it. 

Her fingers were quick and nimble as they unzipped and removed him of his pants. Once they were out of the way, she took a moment to examine him. His hardened length was straining against his underwear, creating a tent even in his briefs. She could even see his tip poking out from the top of his underwear. It looked slick and she knew it was from all his seeping pre-cum. For a brief moment, it surprised her how quickly she was able to get him hard and faintly wondered if he had thought about this before. 

She let the palm of her hand moved up his clothed cock, getting him to groan loudly. He was patient with her though, letting her do as she pleased with him. Her eyes found his, along with the desire he had there. She palmed him harder, getting his his eyes to fall shut and his mouth to open in more groans and heavy breaths. With a grin, she returned her eyes to his hard cock, her fingertips skimming along the top of his underwear before pulling it down. His cock sprung up, causing her to lose her breath. He was so unbelievably big and thick.

Her hand closed around the base of the huge length, starting to stroke him slowly. He groaned again, swearing under his breath as he watched her. She ran her hand up to his tip, getting his pre-cum all over her hand before stroking him, lubricating it. Once it was all covered, she leaned down, licking at his tip. He bucked his hips involuntarily and the tip went into her mouth. She looked up at him with a warning look that if he did that again, she would stop. He seemed to be able to resist doing it again as he reached down, twisting his fingers into her hair. 

So she began bobbing up and down, sucking on him. He continued making groans that sounded delicious to Eclipse’s ears. Her tongue flicked across his tip while she sucked and he slightly bucked again. It made her feel powerful when what she was doing made him lose control of what he was doing. He gripped harder into her hair, forcing her head down a little more on him and Eclipse instantly felt the heat rush between her legs. She was dripping and she couldn’t take much more of this as she began to squirm. Logan must have noticed though because he yanked her head up and forced her up towards him before he flipped them around again.

“Come on now, my love, you can’t make this all about me,” he said with a murmur into her ear, nipping at her earlobe. His hot breath made her body tingle as she squirmed more under him. He let his hands go to her breasts, massaging them. She moaned again, letting her head fall back as she felt him move down from her ear and throat before she felt his hot mouth cover her perky nipple. Eclipse gasped, bucking up against him this time, but he kept her firmly down with his grasp on her breasts. He switched nipples, licking it while his fingers rubbed the other one. Eclipse felt herself dripping even more and she moaned louder. He was driving her insane with pleasure.

For a moment, she was blinded by pure pleasure and didn’t even realize he had moved down until she felt her panties being removed. She quickly sat up a bit and his hand reached up, pushing her back down as he pulled them completely off. Eclipse could feel his staring at her wetness and she blushed furiously. It was embarrassing to her and she had never had someone look at her down there. 

“L-Logan…..please don’t-” she started but never finished when she felt a finger sink into her depths, causing her to buck up and moan loudly. She could almost feel his grin as he pulled it out and slipped it back in. “L-Logan!” she nearly screamed with pleasure as he thrusted his finger in and out of her. Now she was really getting towards the edge. It didn’t help when he removed his finger and replaced it with his tongue. The way his tongue felt cool against her hot pussy nearly drove her to grab him and fuck him right then and there. She felt it slide into her, poking around inside of her and having him taste the wetness he was causing of her. 

At this point, she had become slightly delirious and missed the part where he pulled out, moved up, and held her legs open as he stared down at her. She met his eyes and they could almost see inside of each other’s hearts. But still, it seemed, he wanted permission from her because he looked down and back up before speaking. She could feel his tip pressing against her entrance. 

“Please, Eclipse, I want to take you for my own and no other man can have you,” he whispered and her heart burst with happiness. If she had any misgivings before now, they would have disappeared at his words. He was so honest with his love for her and still wanted to make sure that she was okay with everything he did to her. She smiled at him and nodded.

“Only you, my handsome Logan, only you,” she whispered in return and he grinned back. Then, ever so slowly, he pushed inside of her and they both lost their breath. Her body had to readjust to his size, squeezing around him which only made him lose more of his breath. With another few moments, he pulled it all the way out to his tip and then back in. The next moment, he had begun a punishing pace. She moaned his name over and over, much like a prayer as he continued thrusting. It seemed he couldn’t get enough of her body and just wanted more. The pace became unrelenting, but somehow still gentle. 

“Fuck, Logan!” Eclipse screamed as she tumbled over the edge. Her body reached its highest climax that she had ever felt and it squeezed him hard in return. He was breathless as he quickly removed himself, groaning her name in return.

“Eclipse, Eclipse…..fuck….” he said as he finally tumbled over with her, letting his scorching cum fall onto her body. She loved the way it felt on her skin. Then Logan fell beside her, panting heavily. She reached over, grabbing a tissue from the bedside table and wiped off his cum. Once clean, she rolled over beside him, nuzzling her face into his chest. She felt his smile against her head as he wrapped his arms around her. The silence was bliss as they just held each other.

“Eclipse…...my love, my darling, I love you,” he murmured against her hair and she started to cry.

“Logan, I love you so much,” she said, the tears of joy sliding down her cheeks. He pulled away and held her face in his hands, meeting her teary eyes. He wiped away the tears with a smile.

“I will always be here for you, I will always wipe away the tears you cry. All I want to do is make you smile and happy.”

Then she heard the click of the trigger.


	19. Finding Her

They followed Riley until he came to a stop at a dead body. Hesh quickly knelt down, trying to see who it was. They had followed the dog all the way through the woods and through the city. Whoever had been bleeding had lasted a really long time. But they finally found the body deep in the city, laid up against a burned out car. Hesh lifted the face to see the Federation mask. He let the head fall and took a breath. Eclipse must have stabbed him before she was grabbed. The team looked around as well. There had to have been a clue as to where they were headed.

Each split up in an opposite direction to figure out where the body had been heading and Hesh took Riley with him. The dog was extremely attentive, as if knowing how important it was to find Eclipse as soon as possible. The city was silent as they explored the area. It was so strange how silent this world was. It was almost like the city was holding its breath to what was about to happen. Hesh jumped over some wreckage on the ground and slid across the hood of a car. He went through a few alleys before he heard Merrick’s voice come over the radio.

“I found them, I’m sending coordinates to your GPS’s,” he said, his voice lowered. As promised, a moment later, Hesh’s GPS beeped with a notification of an incoming location. He pulled it out, studying the little map. He turned around, running out of the alley with Riley close behind. He leaped over cars and slid under broken poles, his mind racing along with his body.

Eclipse had been kidnapped, more than likely by Logan. He felt guilty because he should have been there to prevent it, but he wasn’t. When he found her again, he promised himself he would keep her close. She deserved it and she needed it. Leaving her by herself would not take away her pain, but simply amplify it. As well as the fact that if he let get her taken again, he would never be able to live with himself. At the same time though, he felt the fury rising. If Logan hurt her, he would kill him. Unknown to him, it seemed that brother would kill brother over the woman with red hair. 

When he found Merrick, he was sitting on top of a car, looking down with binoculars. Crouching down, he worked his way over to Merrick, becoming aware of the rest of the team coming up behind him. Merrick was silent as Hesh was settling down beside him before the man quietly gave over the binoculars. Hesh wondered why he wouldn’t say a word, but when he peered into the binoculars, he could see exactly why. 

A masked man was standing near a tent, arms across his chest. His mask was painted with a white skull, one that was all too familiar to him. He was watching as Rorke walked toward him. He said something to the man and Logan simply nodded to his words without moving. So it was true, that his brother was turned into a mindless drone. It gave him mixed feelings of pain and confusion. How his brother, who was stronger than him, snapped into working for Rorke was beyond him, but he swore to himself that he wouldn’t let Eclipse go through that same torture. 

“What do we do?” Hesh asked in a soft voice. He wasn’t sure what to say besides that. Merrick was the one in charge here, not him. But he could feel the bile rising in the back of his throat. He wanted to charge straight down there and kick his brother’s ass. 

“Hesh, this mission is yours,” Merrick responded, something that shocked him. He quickly looked over at the leader and he was staring back at him. “This mission is more personal to you than any one of us. You are leading this.” Hesh nodded before looking down at the small camp. It clearly wasn’t the main one, appearing too small. Only a few tents were pitched up while the building right next to them had a few crates sitting in the doorway. They appeared to be picking everything up though. Crates were being carried out of the building to the vehicles parked nearby.

“We’ll need to act quickly. It appears that they’re getting ready to move. I’ll need the team to distract while you and I head into that tent that Logan is guarding,” Hesh murmured to Merrick. The other man nodded as he turned towards the group, instructing them to steal some of the vehicles and drive off with them before abandoning them a distance away. That would catch the enemy’s attention long enough for he and Hesh to get inside the tent. The team nodded, quickly disappearing into the tall grasses. Hesh watched as Merrick pulled up his mask. He looked to Hesh and nodded. He was ready.

Hesh dropped down the small ledge next to the car, on the slope that would lead down to the small encampment. Merrick was close behind, keeping in a single line. When they reached the bushes right outside the camp, they stopped and waited for the team’s distraction. Hesh took this time to examine Logan closer. He had blood splattered across his uniform and that spiked the fury in Hesh. That blood had better not have been from Eclipse. His brother was staring straight ahead, eyes seeming dead and blank. Other than those two main points, it was like his brother was normal again, wanting to destroy Rorke. 

It didn’t take much longer, as yelling took Logan’s gaze to the side, where the team stole the vehicles and were driving off with them. Logan took off after them, leaving the tent unattended. Making sure no one was around, Hesh leaped forward, rushing into the tent. Inside was a body sitting in a chair, a cloth bag over the head. Its hands were tied behind its back and it was slumped. Blood was all over the uniform and touched on the cloth that bled through. Hesh felt his heart freeze inside his chest. Those were Eclipse’s clothes that she was wearing. He felt like he was stoned into place, unable to take a step forward. 

Merrick had followed and stood beside Hesh. He saw that the man was frozen, so he slowly took a few steps forward. The body didn’t seem to be breathing. He reached for the bag, fingers shaking just a bit as he grabbed the cloth. Ever so slowly, he pulled the bag up. Dark red hair was seen falling out. Merrick stopped when he heard Hesh fall to his knees, breathing heavily. He knew what the girl meant to Hesh. He continued pulling and Eclipse’s face was seen as the bag was removed. Her lips were slightly open and a bruise on her cheek. Once the bag was off, he saw something that could break Hesh.

On Eclipse’s forehead was a nasty bruise. An ugly deep purple-brown. He leaned down and moved close to her lips and couldn’t help the smile. He heard her shallow breaths. She was unconscious. Merrick turned back to Hesh. “It’s okay, Hesh, she’s alive,” he said and the man instantly jumped forward, delicately bringing up her chin. Other than her bleeding cheek and bruised head, she seemed unharmed. Merrick knelt behind the chair, cutting the bindings. Once she was free, Hesh picked her up again, putting her over his shoulder this time. They needed to move quickly, before Logan came back. 

Merrick peeked out the tent, the coast was clear and he moved through, Hesh right behind with Eclipse. The men around had mostly disappeared, but something was making Hesh’s hairs stand up, like something was wrong. He and Merrick moved back towards the slope to go back up when a voice caught Hesh’s attention and caused both men to stop.

“Where do you think you’re going with my girlfriend, brother?” the voice said and Hesh’s heart caught in his throat as he slowly turned around. Logan was standing a few paces away, watching them with those dead eyes of his. There were a few soldiers around him, but Hesh knew there were more, just watching. Hesh glared death at Logan, clutching Eclipse closer to his body. There was no way in hell he was going to let Logan touch her again.

“I’m taking her away from you. You hurt her and she loved you. You don’t deserve her anymore, traitor,” Hesh said, hissing the word traitor with venom. His heart was pounding. They needed to escape. They had no backup and they were carrying weight. They were vulnerable. Merrick had raised his gun to the group, but soldiers only responded with raising their guns.

“Taking her away, dear brother? I don’t think that’s going to happen. She’ll love me, first she needs to see things our way,” he said and Hesh could feel his nasty grin through the fabric of his mask. Logan took a step towards them and Hesh instantly reacted, pulling out his pistol and aiming it at Logan.

“I’ll kill you if you take another step. You aren’t my brother,” Hesh snarled.

“Oh, really? You’re going to kill me? My big brother is going to kill me over a woman. Father would be so disappointed in you,” Logan tsked, but didn’t take another step. They were at an impasse. That was, until another set of clicking guns caught everyone’s attention as the Ghosts returned, protecting their members.     

“You’re not going to kill anyone. We’re leaving,” Keegan spoke up as they got in front of Hesh and Merrick. They started backing up and yet, Logan and his team didn’t move. They simply watched with guns trained on them. Not a bullet would be fired. The team moved back up the slope and escaped into the city.

Once they had returned to base, they brought Eclipse to the medic tent. As Hesh gently laid her down, he looked up, seeing her poor wolf. Lucia was bandaged up, but it appeared she was still alive and breathing. He stepped back as the medics took over, tending to Eclipse’s wounds. He wasn’t going to leave her side again, so he sat in a nearby chair, watching over her. Merrick stood beside him. Hesh could read his thoughts though and looked up at the leader.

“I’m thinking the same question. Why didn’t they attack us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so very sorry for not updating. I started college and I've had literally no free time for myself. I finally got to sit down and write some over the weekend. I hope this sates some hunger for the story for a bit. I'll try and post more frequently, when I'm not having lots of homework and tests......


	20. Leaving

Four days went by as Eclipse recovered, but she still hadn’t woken up yet. Hesh never left the medic tent, even when Merrick asked him to go his tent and sleep. He sat in a chair next to her bed, watching her. Lucia had since woken up and the wolf limped over to Hesh, resting her muzzle on his leg, so he smiled and gently scratched behind her ears and petted her. She laid down at his legs after a while, dozing off there. Hesh looked back over at Eclipse as she slept. The bruise on her forehead had mostly disappeared, with a light brown mark as the only trace it was there. The medics had made sure to take special care of it to make it go away. They hoped that the easing of it would make her wake up. He thought back to a few days ago.  
“Eclipse hasn’t woke up and it’s been two days,” Hesh had said to the doctor as the woman tended to Eclipse’s wounds. The doctor sighed and nodded.  
“Yes, and we’re not sure why. The blow to the head should have only been enough to knock her out for a day, but she’s still out. We’ve run some scans on her brain structure and she appears to be fine. It’s almost like she doesn’t want to wake up,” the woman replied, nearly whispering that last sentence.  
Hesh blinked a few times, letting the memory fade. He moved closer to her, picking up her hand in his own. He rubbed the top, looking up at her sleeping face. The wound on her made his fury continue building. Every time he saw her helpless body, he couldn’t feel anything but fury. His brother had done this to his own girlfriend and Hesh would never forgive him for it. Eclipse didn’t deserve all this torture, she deserved better. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. When was she going to wake? It had been so long and the doctors didn’t have the right equipment to keep her alive while she was sleeping. They’d have to send her off if she didn’t get better in the next few days.  
“Please, Eclipse. Please wake up. I promise that if you do, I’ll never leave your side again,” he murmured as he brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the top. He hadn’t prepared himself if she responded, but when she did, he quickly opened his eyes again. Her fingers had twitched in his hand, as they had been for a while, but then they closed around his fingers. Eclipse was shifting, a soft moan coming from her throat as she began to wake. He moved closer, holding her hand tighter. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears, waiting patiently.  
Her eyes fluttered a bit, before she squinted, opening her eyes slowly. He could see her sapphire eyes, and he let go of the breath he had been holding for the four days she had been hurt. But then he saw the pain there. The agony written in her eyes. She didn’t even have to be awake that long for him to be able to read that from her. He held her hand still and she turned her head towards him, her eyes meeting his. They held each other’s gaze until hers became tear-filled.  
“My Logan…….he’s not my boyfriend anymore,” she breathed, her voice as soft as it could be. Hesh felt pity, sighing softly as he nodded his head in confirmation to her words. “Why? Why would he betray me?” Her voice changed to a broken tone as she began to cry. Hesh sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her close and hugging her as she buried her face in his chest. He shushed her softly, hand brushing through her hair. He continued holding her as she cried for a few minutes until she fell silent.  
“I’m sorry, Eclipse. I truly am. I lost my brother now too,” he murmured, his heart heavy as he admitted those words. His brother truly was gone, it seemed and there would be nothing to return him to them. She simply buried her face into his chest further. He didn’t move past that, knowing now she needed time. “I’m also sorry I let you be alone. I won’t do it again, I promise.” She nodded against him, but still no words came from her.  
They sat in this way for a while longer before a nurse came in and Hesh slowly let her lay back down. The nurse took tests and measurements, finding that Eclipse was fine. They fed her and gave her water. Hesh simply sat in his chair with Lucia still resting by his legs. She was unaware of her master being awake now. He was trying to think of what they could do now. Eclipse needed to rest up before she’d be allowed to go out on missions, but he knew that they were going to want him to be doing missions double time to cover up for missing Eclipse.  
He wouldn’t go and do any, not leaving Eclipse’s side. It seemed, though, that neither of them were going to have a choice. After the nurse left Eclipse, an explosion rocked the ground. Hesh jumped up, drawing his pistol as he peeked out the flap of the tent. A nearby building was on fire and soldiers were disoriented as they recovered from the blast. Though, he saw some things that didn’t make sense. A few soldiers were going from tent to tent, checking the flaps and leaning in with their weapons before leaning back out.  
Federation soldiers. He quickly ducked back in, seeing a now awake Lucia up and growling, fur raised despite her injuries. Eclipse was struggling to stand from the bed, her knees nearly buckling her to the floor before Hesh caught her in his arms. She growled something about needing revenge and Hesh shook his head at her and put a finger to his lips to tell her to be quiet as he picked her up, carrying her to the back of the tent. Lucia limped along behind them, hiding as they went behind a cloth wall. He crouched down, with Eclipse climbing onto his back to make it easier for him to move.  
The soldiers were peering into the tent and Hesh heard them step in. A radio clicked and one of the men started talking into it.  
“We’re in the medical tent but Eclipse isn’t anywhere to be seen. What are your orders?” he asked. A familiar voice responded.  
“She has to be somewhere in that camp. Find her. I want her back here so Rorke can begin breaking her,” Logan told them and the man confirmed the order before leaving the tent. Hesh waited a few moments before peering out from behind the cloth. They were gone, for now. He turned and looked at Eclipse, who was wincing from her wounds being stretched out. She was in no condition to fight. He was debating on what to do when someone walking in took his attention.  
“Hesh? Where are you?” a man was saying and Hesh looked around the cloth wall. It was Merrick, who was geared up.  
“Merrick!” Hesh said, catching his attention. Merrick came in and Hesh carried Eclipse into view.  
“She’s awake?” Merrick asked and Hesh nodded. “It’s too hot in this area, the soldiers are pulling out after this last explosion. I just heard the orders from the general.”  
“Yes, it is too hot, there’s Federation soldiers here as well,” Hesh agreed. “We need to leave.” He felt Eclipse hide her face into his back, her slight shivering informing Hesh that she was probably crying again. He didn’t blame her. But they needed time to figure out what to do. Merrick nodded and went to the back, using his knife to open a hole and he stepped out with Hesh right behind. Merrick lead them through the trees, away from the camp.  
Eclipse stopped shivering after about 5 minutes of walking and remained mostly still. He was concerned for her, glancing over his shoulder at her repeatedly while they were walking. The other Ghosts joined them through the forest, with Kick and Keegan carrying Eclipse and Hesh’s things. Only Neptune was missing. He was getting them transportation. Eclipse seemed to have slipped back into sleep, but Hesh wasn’t sure. He looked over at Merrick who was walking beside him. The man was watching Riley help Lucia pad along beside them. The dog was holding up the wolf’s side, being very careful to avoid opening her wounds.  
“Merrick?” Hesh had said quietly and he looked over at Hesh. “What are we going to do? You said this was my mission, but I think you need to lead from here.” Merrick was quiet for a while, looking ahead.  
“You saw what Logan has become. He is an enemy now. How we are going to deal with him, I’m not sure, but for now, we need to return to the base. Train harder and study this new Logan. For how long? That I also don’t know. Could be a week, could be a month. Eventually, we all know this, Rorke and Logan will come after us, we will be ready for them,” Merrick replied as Neptune came into view, seeming to have gotten ahold of a helicopter for transportation. As they boarded, Hesh pulled Eclipse off his back and into his arms. She was curled up, her eyes puffy and red from her crying, but she was asleep again. He looked out as they got into the sky, turning away from the city. Little did they know, a pair of eyes was watching them, ready to follow wherever they were going to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I so, so, so, so apologize for not updating regularly. I'm a college student and I barely have enough time to function anymore so it's difficult to write or find the motivation to write since I'm normally tired. I promise you this story will be finished at some point.


	21. Five Months

Eclipse was sitting in her room, at her desk where pictures of the enemy were laying along with files on them. Among the pictures were a few of Logan surrounded by Federation soldiers, ordering them around. She sighed, rubbing the back of her neck as she glanced over at that picture of Logan and her heart fell again. It always did when she noticed pictures like that. Closing her eyes, she leaned back in her chair. For hours, she had been sitting here, studying and reading over the files and pictures, learning new movements and battle styles of each of the main leaders left.  
  
“Tired?” a male voice asked and Eclipse slowly opened her eyes as she turned her head to the doorway. Hesh was leaning against the door frame. She nodded before her eyes trailed back to her desk. Hesh followed her gaze to the pictures of Logan, which were actually shoved off to the side of her desk, to a part where she didn’t have to look unless she pointedly looked there. He walked into her room and stood next to her desk, leaning against it with his leg.  
  
“It’s been what? Five months? Still Logan works for Rorke,” Eclipse said, her voice quiet. She hadn’t talked much since they had returned from L.A. Only Hesh heard her voice now. The five months had almost flown by since they returned to their base. They had been dispatched on a few missions here and there, but not once had they heard a peep from Rorke and Logan. Pictures came in from recon missions that had them, but no transmissions.  
  
“Five months…...seems like just yesterday we had first met at that base,” Hesh commented, looking down at her. She looked up, meeting his eyes with her own blue ones. The tension had grown. Hesh had forgotten about staying away from her and they were closer than ever. But the tension, the static in the air between them, had grown tremendously. Hesh knew that she felt it too, but he held himself back until she caved in. He craved her, however, he craved her so badly that it was almost unbearable. The few missions that they had gone on in the time-span had gotten so torturous to Hesh. When they went into the barracks, she had grown comfortable enough to undress in front of him, stripping down to her underwear before heading to the showers.  
  
Needless to say, it was difficult for him to focus if he didn’t relieve himself before the mission began. The one time his control nearly shattered was when he had gotten out of the shower before Eclipse and he heard her moaning. Unable to help it, he slipped into her side of the showers and the moaning grew louder. She was helping herself in the shower and he…...he couldn’t stop himself from peeking just a bit. She was up against the wall, fingers working herself, and head thrown back. With the image seared into his mind, he had fled the showers, desperately needing to help himself. Especially when the last moan he heard was his name.  
  
Eclipse smiled up at him in present time, and he smiled back before she stood up. They were almost touching, her slim body against his built one, only inches apart. She had her head tilted slightly and Hesh was so tempted to touch those lips of hers. The tension seemed to fizzle between them, almost begging to be addressed, but neither of them were going to do that. Realizing that he was holding his breath, Hesh let it out slowly, his heart pounding in his chest. With a smile though, he calmly asked, “Dinner?” She nodded and he turned, going to head out the door when her hand slipping into his was felt. He stopped, turning toward her and she smiled innocently up at him. He smirked and continued out the door. They held hands until they got to the mess hall, where she let go and they got food, moving to sit in the corner of the hall. It was quiet, with most of the soldiers finally being able to go home. The Ghosts and a few other special teams were left. They ate quietly before Eclipse broke the silence with something that stunned him into further silence.  
  
“Logan never mentioned if you had a girlfriend or not. I’m assuming you don’t because of what a workaholic you are,” she said, her voice soft and almost seductive. Hesh just stared at her, cup halfway up to his mouth. She was smiling, her eyes glittering mysteriously, but Hesh understood what she was getting at well enough. Finding enough strength, he was able to bring the cup to his lips and dryly swallow the water.  
  
“I don’t, too focused on work, like you said,” he said in return, his voice hinted with seductiveness in return. “But, work seems to be winding down a bit…..”  
  
“Interesting. I wonder what lucky girl will catch your eye,” Eclipse responded as she finished off her last bits of food. She got up to leave but dropped her fork. So she bent down to pick it up. Hesh had to catch his breath as she gave him quite the view of her. He could feel his body responding and he felt the heat rushing to his cheeks. He watched as she stood back up, ever so slowly, and then glanced over her shoulder with a smile, heading away from him. He groaned, unable to move. If he did, someone would surely notice the hard-on he very clearly had.  
  
Once it had settled, he got up and dumped the plate. He glanced around. Eclipse had disappeared and a wicked grin came to his face. She was playing hide-and-seek with him. He didn’t have to be told, he could just sense it. So he began his seeking, checking her room first. He didn’t find her there. He did notice Lucia and Riley laying together. The two animals had gotten even closer. They were also pretty sure that Lucia was going to go into heat soon and that she and Riley would have pups, but that wasn’t definite yet. He continued moving through the quiet base. He had gotten to the hallway that had his room in it. The door was slightly open and he walked to the door.  
  
Slowly pushing it open, he saw it was dark in his room and as he stepped inside, the door shut behind him. When he turned, Eclipse was standing there, leaning against the door. He couldn’t help but smirk widely as he stepped closer to her, looking down at her in the darkness. He could see the glint in her eyes and her biting her lip.  
  
“Found you,” Hesh whispered. To see how far she’d let him go, he let his hand touch her hip gently. The softness that was there almost made him touch all of her in that moment, but he was patient. She didn’t respond much, simply shifting a bit. They were inches from each other, just barely about to touch. Hesh tilted his head and she tilted hers. Hesh’s heart was pounding and he was sure that hers was too. He lowered his head just a bit and she stood up on her tiptoes just a bit. The few moments felt like hours and just before their lips were about to touch, someone knocking on the door stopped them. Hesh swore in his mind as he stood straight up and she flipped on the light, stepping behind him with her arms behind her back, going into a military stance.  
  
Opening it, he found a breathless Kick. The man was panting heavily and sweating as though he had run a great distance. Hesh waited for the man to catch his breath, but he could see the panic in Kick’s eyes.  
  
“Merrick has been kidnapped,” he was able to pant out. He looked between the two, seeming to be unaware of the tension between Hesh and Eclipse, but they felt it disappear for the moment at this news. The leader of the Ghosts had been kidnapped. Before Hesh could ask how, Kick was already explaining in a quick stream of words. “Merrick had been recalled to Washington to give an assessment of the situation down here. His helicopter was downed not 5 miles from the base. They knew he was leaving and they jumped him.” He paused as he handed them a picture. “A drone took this before it was shot down.” Hesh and Eclipse looked at it and felt their hearts freeze. Logan was grabbing an unconcious Merrick and dragging him away, with a pistol aimed at the drone seconds before it was shot down.  
  
Logan was back in the radar and he looked like he wanted to play.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gave up a few hours of homework time to deliver this chapter. I don't mind so much, it was nice to actually sit and write something non-college related xD


	22. Kidnapped

Hesh stood in the command center with the other Ghosts. Neptune was standing back with his arms crossed, staring up at the main screen that had the picture of Logan dragging Merrick. Kick and Keegan were conversing quietly on the side, not really sure what to do. Eclipse hadn’t been seen since Kick delivered the news. She disappeared and Hesh didn’t really blame her. Logan hadn’t been active towards them for months and now all of a sudden he was back. His heart throbbed for a bit though. He wished he’d been able to kiss Eclipse, but now that moment had passed and it was time to get back to work, as much as he hated it. The other Ghosts had relinquished control to Hesh so he was to decide how they would act.  
  
The first thing that he had ordered them to do was send out more drones and watch the past radar for where Logan could have taken Merrick. Hesh would have gone out himself, but they were pretty sure that’s what Logan wanted so he could snag more of them away. For now, they were currently waiting for the results of this search, which was the worst part since they had to sit around and that wasn’t normally their style. Turning, Hesh nodded to Neptune to control the center for a bit and alert him when something was found. He left the command and walked outside. Glancing around, he went looking for Eclipse.  
  
He found her in her room, sitting on her bed with tears running down her face. He quietly closed the door behind him and moved to sit next to her. She was holding a picture in her hands and her head was bowed, the tears falling from her face in glistening water droplets. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she turned her face into his chest, crying silently. She gave him the picture she was holding and he took it. It was a picture of her and Logan, looking into the camera with his arm around her shoulders as they smiled brightly. They were in their gear, but it appeared to be before a mission, neither of them being dirty.  
  
“Oh, Eclipse,” Hesh breathed, setting the picture down on her desk before wrapping his other arm around her. She wrapped her arms around his chest as he cried. “I am so sorry……” He ran his fingers through her soft red hair, trying to soothe her. He wished he could stop her pain, wished he could take it away so she would never have to be hurting again. “We’ll go after him and we’ll do everything we can to save him.” He was surprised when he felt her shake her head slightly.  
  
“He’s gone, Hesh. He’s gone……” she murmured before pulling away so she could look up at him. Hesh tilted his head. “I feel like we can’t save him, Hesh. But I won’t let him take you away too.” With that, Eclipse seemed to have finally broken the tension between them. She moved closer and kissed Hesh. The man felt his heart pounding so hard in his chest that he thought it was going to burst. He closed his eyes though, kissing her back. Her lips were so soft that he never wanted to let them leave his own. His hands slid to her face, where he cupped her face and pulled her closer. She started to lean back, pulling him on top of her. He was careful not to crush her as they kissed more. Then the passion broke free as Hesh kissed her deeper. She eagerly accepted that, especially when his tongue licked against her lips, urging her to open her mouth. She let him in as he explored her mouth and all he could taste was her sweetness. Like a ripe strawberry, she was addictive.  
  
The two kissed like this for a while and Hesh could feel a part deep in his mind being disappointed in him. He had taken the heart of his brother’s girlfriend. She would be attached to him now instead of being with who she belonged. The rest of his mind scolded that part however, telling him that Eclipse was making her own choice. If they brought Logan back to them, then it would be up to her to choose, but if Logan never returned, she had chosen who she was going to be with. But still the disappointed part in his mind voiced its opinion. He had gone too far, way too far. He shouldn’t have dared mess with her, but now it was too late.  
  
He was jolted out of his thoughts and her kissing when the radio on his hip went off. It beeped with an alert of an incoming transmission. He reluctantly pulled away from her lips and she stared up at him, her eyes half-lidded, showing the lust and seductiveness there. He groaned softly, having to rip his eyes away from her sapphire ones as he reached back and took the radio. He clicked it and spoke into it, “This is Hesh, go ahead.”  
  
“Hesh, the search has come back. We know what happened. We need you to get to the command center right away. And you might want to bring Eclipse,” Neptune spoke through the radio. Hesh confirmed what he said and clicked off the radio. He sighed, looking back down at her. She was still looking up at him with that same gaze and a smirk had appeared on her lips.  
  
“Well, Hesh, I didn’t realize you were so big down there. I’ll have to investigate that further some time,” she spoke, her voice soft and full of lust. He swallowed, the heat rushing to his cheeks and she smirked wider. Damn, now it was going to be even harder to get rid of the tightness in his pants. He slowly got off her and she sat up beside him. He gazed at her from the side as she started to pull up her hair into a ponytail. An instinct took over, one he couldn’t control. He pulled down her shirt from the collar some and laid his lips there, taking the soft skin into his mouth biting and sucking. He heard her gasp, the moan laid in with it.  
  
When he pulled away, a nice dark red hickey was left there and he couldn’t help the grin. She let him mark her. He stood up and she stared up at him, her legs pressed together and he knew she was hiding her own excitement. As he grinned, the darkness in his mind grew. How dare he? First he kissed her, now he marked her with his teeth and lips. He was a stupid, evil man, playing with her heart. But it wasn’t like he didn’t love her back. It was quite the opposite. He loved her with all his heart and wished to keep her for himself. That’s where the problem laid. She wasn’t for him to take. She was supposed to stay good for Logan. One thought then silenced the darkness. Eclipse was apart of this too. It wasn’t just him. She had made the choice as well, full aware of the consequences that could follow it. They were in this together.  
  
Finally at peace with his mind, Hesh tilted his head and smiled at her, fully and happily. She smiled back, eyes bright and he offered his hand to her. She took it and stood up. She was still shorter than him, but he was fine with that. He held her hand as they walked to the door. “Whatever happens, you stole my heart, Eclipse,” he told her softly. “It’s yours for as long as you want it.” He looked back at her and her cheeks were flushed red, her other hand over her heart. She almost looked surprised that he said that to her. It seemed to mean more to her than he originally thought.  
  
“I will keep your heart and love it forever,” she murmured back and he nodded, leading her out and to the command center where the little special team was waiting for them. He continued holding her hand on the way in, but if the others had anything to say about it, they were silent, not commenting on their hands. They were staring up at the main screen, where a video was playing and Hesh and Eclipse lifted their eyes to it as well.  
  
A drone was hovering over the area Merrick had been taken and it flew towards where they had disappeared. As it moved along, tire tracks appeared after the footprints and dragging ended. It continued to follow them until it spotted a helicopter. The helicopter was taking off and moving to the south, further into South America. Neptune looked at Hesh, his face grim.  
  
“This was taken about 10 minutes ago. Merrick is being brought down to South America, but where exactly, we aren’t sure. However, the UAV we have up is keeping an eye on the helicopter, so when it lands, we should know. We need to prepare though. If we let them keep their hands on Merrick, we’ll lose him the same way we lost Ajax,” Neptune said and Kick and Keegan agreed with nods. Hesh nodded back and realizing they were looking to him for orders, he glanced down at Eclipse. She was looking up at him and he could see her feelings in her eyes.  
  
She was showing sadness, but also anger. She was ready to go after Logan, not as a friend, but as an enemy. He nodded down at her. He looked back at the other three and started to issue his orders. They were to prepare and be ready in 20 minutes. Keegan was to secure transport while Kick secured weapons for them and Neptune to get backup from the other special teams left on the base. They all ran off in their own directions and Hesh brought Eclipse to the barracks.  
  
Riley and Lucia were already in there, waiting for their masters. Hesh knelt down, putting armor on Riley and the camera on his back. Eclipse put armor on Lucia and the two animals ran out after being suited up. Hesh looked over at Eclipse and she was looking back. He got up and walked over to her, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes after she stood up. They were silent, not saying a word, but Hesh knew there was words that needed to be said.  
  
“Are you ready for this?” he asked her quietly and she lowered her eyes for a moment, seeming to think before looking back up into his eyes with a nod.  
  
“I am. Logan isn’t my boyfriend. He’s an enemy. I can’t let him keep hurting my family of Ghosts. I will go after him as if I am going after any enemy. And once he’s been…….dealt with, Rorke will be next to fall,” Eclipse replied, but her voice sounded broken when she said dealt with. She knew it either had to be them saving Logan from his brainwashing or he was going to have to die. Hesh brought his hands to her cheeks, cupping her face again as he searched her eyes.  
  
“Eclipse, you don’t have to do this,” he said in a whisper.  
  
“Yes, I do, this is my problem to deal with. I need to stop Logan-” she began but Hesh cut her off.  
  
“No, Eclipse. I mean you don’t have to do this with me. You don’t need to be with me through this. If we save Logan, you know he will want you back and will do everything to make it up to you,” Hesh said, though he could feel his heart starting to break as those words were said. But she responded differently than he thought. She actually smiled at him and her hands placed themselves on top of his.  
  
“Hesh…….David, you don’t understand. I’ve loved you too. I couldn’t help it. I saw you around, though you didn’t know I was. You…….you caught my eye and I couldn’t help but be attracted to you too. I want this, even if Logan does come back. For now, you are the one I want. It hurts too much to think about Logan. If he apologized a thousand times, all I’d be able to see in his eyes is the betrayal he dealt to me. The gun to my forehead, that’s all I’ll be able to see when I look at him. David, don’t pull away from me. I’m making this choice and you are too, I can sense that. We’re going to fight, together,” she told him before moving closer and kissing him again.  
  
Hesh had listened to this intently, hanging on every word and he gave out a sigh of relief in the kiss, kissing her back with a pleasure, his hands slipping down to wrap around her waist and pick her up. She giggled in the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. The two stayed like this until Eclipse got more passionate, getting wild with the kiss and Hesh grinned, pushing her back the lockers and holding her there. He bit at her lower lip before kissing down her neck and she let her head fall back in a soft moan.  
  
As much as he wanted this to continue, Hesh knew they were on a tight time schedule. So with a sigh of disappointment, he pulled away, watching her pant while her face was flushed. Hesh couldn’t help but smile as he gazed at her. Her sapphire eyes were glittering with excitement and love, a look he had longed to see for himself. Her hair was a little messed up, although the redness gleamed in the light. Her lips were a soft red from all their kissing and Hesh could feel his heart soaring.  
  
“Come on my dear, let’s go save our Queen Bee,” Hesh said with a silly grin. Eclipse laughed, surprised he remembered the sassy nickname that Eclipse had given Merrick on that first mission. He gently set her down and touched her cheek with his hand. She nuzzled her face into his hand and he smiled. He went to his locker and got ready. She headed to the showers, but Hesh had taken one in the morning so he didn’t go to his showers.  
  
He was suited up and waiting when she came out. She was wearing her underwear, but he watched as she got ready. Unlike her normal uniform, she put on a skin tight bodysuit, in case they had to go swimming. He thought that was smart, although the effect on him was amplified now as he watched her move around in it. She put on a thin sniper suit, all black of course, and then her mask. She then pulled up her hood and looked up at him, the gleam in her eyes being all he could see. She pulled her sniper onto her back and then her Honeybadger on her hip, with a combat knife on the other hip.  
  
They were ready, but before they headed out, Eclipse stopped Hesh. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a mask painted with a skull on it. It was different from their father’s, but similar in a way. She handed it to him and he tilted his head questioningly.  
  
“Elias gave that to me when he made me a Ghost. I don’t wear it because it doesn’t fit well on me, more made for a bigger head. I want you to wear it,” she said and he smiled at her, leaning over and kissing her forehead before donning the mask on himself. He glanced in the mirror and realized he looked a lot like his father. She took his hand and headed out the door with him. The rest of the team had just gotten everything Hesh had ordered done and their transportation was ready to go.  
  
Rorke and Logan had a lot to worry about. This was a new team and they were ready to fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, yeah, I know people didn't want Hesh with Eclipse. But what are you gonna do? They have been fighting for Logan, but when no progress has been made, you can only assume what was going to happen.


	23. Cave

They set out on a truck, going to the crash site itself. The drones had cleared the area so they were safe to look for anything else before heading out. Such as if they used a new weapon to down Merrick’s helicopter. When they got to the site, there was not much left, the copter’s body was twisted and mangled. It was a miracle that Merrick had survived in the first place. Hesh got out of the truck, walking around the wreckage. He was silent as he searched, aware of the rest of team watching him and keeping an eye for any enemies. When he was finished, Hesh realized that there was something wrong with this wreck.  
  
There were no bullet holes, no sign of any missile hitting it. It looked like it had just fallen from the sky. He turned back to the team and he saw they were still looking at him. He got back in the truck with them and said, “There’s no evidence of anything striking the helicopter. Something dropped it from the sky. I think it was an EMP of some sort.” Kick and Keegan nodded at this information while Neptune reported back to base, warning their back up that EMPs were likely in play.  
  
Keegan started driving again, Kick in the passenger seat, and Neptune sitting in the seat behind them. Eclipse and Hesh were in the far back seat, glancing back and forth through the windows as they drove. During the drive, Hesh felt Eclipse’s hand slip into his and he held it, gently running his thumb over her hand. He knew that she was feeling conflicted and internally, he was as well. He had been raised his whole life to protect Logan and help him through life, now their objective was to stop him at any means. He gripped her hand tighter and she held his hand tighter in return.  
  
They drove all day, following the trail and they heard that the helicopter had landed somewhere in the jungle, in a location that had been unsearched by the special forces. As day turned to night, they had to find a place to turn in. Eclipse pulled open a map that she had and found a cave nearby where they were driving. She had explored it once and it was extensive. So Keegan took the truck to the cave, which the entrance was covered by vines and big enough to bring the truck in, so they drove it in and hid it behind the vines. The rest of the team went into the cave to make sure no one was there while Eclipse and Hesh stood at the entrance, keeping an eye out for any enemies.  
  
“The cave is clear!” Kick’s voice drifted out from the darkness. The other two Ghosts confirmed with a few yells. They met back up in the entrance area and Neptune agreed to take the first watch while the others got some rest. Each found a line of the cave to claim as their own. Hesh settled down on a roll out bed, staring up at the dark ceiling of the smooth cave. He thought back to when he was a kid. Logan and he were training one day in a cave.  
  
_“Hesh, what does dad want us to do again?” Logan asked, looking up at his brother as they headed into the cave. Hesh turned and smiled a little bit, with a laugh. Logan was so daydreamy lately that it was crazy. He wondered what he was always thinking about, if it was a girl or something._  
  
_“Dad wants us to find some flag he hid in the cave,” Hesh replied and Logan nodded, looking a bit worried as they disappeared into the shadows of the cave. It was dark, but they did have flashlights. The cave was extensive, with so many side tunnels and twists in it that Hesh swore they were going in circles a few times. However, after a while of exploring and tripping over rocks, it became relatively quiet. It took a while longer before Hesh realized that Logan’s footsteps had disappeared. He turned around and saw his brother was missing._  
  
_“Logan?!” he shouted, his voice echoing, but there was no response. Heart rate picking up, Hesh had retraced his steps, finding no sign of his brother. He continued shouting, but it seemed to not be reaching wherever Logan had gone. He wasn’t sure what to do until he remembered a secret whistle they shared. It was for emergencies only and this was becoming an emergency. So he put his fingers up to his mouth and whistled loud and in a pattern. After a few moments, a shrill whistle returned. While his voice couldn’t find his brother, the whistle could. So Hesh followed the returning whistle until he found Logan sitting on a rock, a nasty scrape all the way up his leg._  
  
_“Hesh! I was following behind you when I slipped and fell down a rock slope,” Logan said, motioning toward a slope of rocks to his left. Hesh knelt down and helped his brother patch up the scrape on his leg before putting an arm around his shoulder so he could help him limp out. But Logan stopped him when he heard the plan was to leave._  
  
_“Hesh, we can’t leave until we found the flag,” Logan said and despite Hesh’s protesting, Logan insisted they find it. So with Hesh helping, Logan and him limped around the cave, taking different paths until they found the flag, hidden deep inside the darkness. They got the flag and started heading back out when the flashlight’s light got dim, very dim. It was almost pitch black in the cave and Hesh could hear his brother’s breathing pick up._  
  
_“Did the light just go out?” Logan asked, sounding scared and Hesh had to make sure he sounded confident in himself before he answered._  
  
_“Yes, it did, but it’s okay, Logan. We’ll make it out of here. I’m always with you, a light in the dark. Don’t ever be scared of the dark, little brother, because no one can hurt you. I’ll protect you from whatever is hiding there,” Hesh assured him._  
  
    Hesh sighed as his voice faded from his mind. So many promises to watch over Logan and they were all broken. He wasn’t there for his brother when he needed him most and that would forever haunt Hesh, even if they did bring Logan back. He hated breaking promises, yet he broke so many, so very many promises with Logan in the past two years that he wished he could have fixed them all. Turning over on his side, he closed his eyes to try and get some rest.  
  
    He wouldn’t have very much though, as sometime during the night, he heard a few pebbles being moved and breathing in the dark. He stayed very still, hearing the approaching sounds. The crunching of the gravel was light, telling him that it wasn’t something heavy and just as he was about to move, a female voice drifted out from the shadows. He couldn’t help but smile when he realized who it was.  
  
    “Hesh? You awake?” Eclipse’s soft voice whispered. He made a small grunt of acknowledgement and she moved closer, settling down beside him. He was going to sit up, but she laid down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and putting her head on his chest. So he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. “I had a nightmare. It’s hard to sleep……” Hesh sighed quietly, gently running his fingers through her hair. Even though she was a strong army girl, she still hated having nightmares, he knew.  
  
    “Shhhh, Eclipse. It’s okay now, I’m right here,” he murmured into her ear and he felt her smile against his chest. He closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep with her, but she didn’t seem to be in the sleeping mood. She moved to lay on top of him, on his chest. So he let her, but his eyes snapped open in the darkness when he felt her hand wandering down to his pant line. He felt his heart beginning to pound when her gentle fingertips slipped under his shirt, feeling every line of muscle he had. He felt her gasp slightly, seeming almost surprised at the muscle and the strength that was hidden there.  
  
    He let out a breath when her other hand wandered down, but instead of joining the hand under his shirt, it stealthily undid the belt on his pants, then unbuttoning it and sliding the zipper down. He groaned quietly when her fingertips gently touched his growing dick, still hidden by his underwear. She gave a quiet moan of her own when she realized his length, which was still getting larger. The moan sounded beautiful in Hesh’s ears and he had to hear more. Sliding his calloused hands over her body, he let them go up under her shirt.  
  
    Her skin was so smooth that Hesh wanted to feel every inch so he grinned in the darkness and flipped them around, with her on her back. She gasped in surprise as he moved quickly, sliding her shirt up and exposing her skin to the chilled air of the cave. He leaned down, his lips kissing across her smooth skin. He felt goosebumps forming on her skin, but whether it was from his kissing or the cold, he didn’t know. His hands moved up her sides with his lips before they found the fabric of her bra. He paused here, looking into the shadows above. He couldn’t see her face, but he could hear her heavy breathing.  
  
    “Please, Hesh, don’t stop there,” she whispered and Hesh gladly continued, his fingers moving under her to unhook her bra and pulling it off. His hands cupped her breasts and he was surprised at how big they were. She hid them so well…….and it took almost no time for Hesh to latch his lips onto her left nipple, sucking gently. He loved the way she gasped and moaned quietly for him, the way she whispered his name which sent excitement straight between his legs. He switched to her other nipple, this time gently biting and her moaning spike a bit higher in pitch. She liked that, so he did it again, making her moaning grow even louder. While he was doing this, her hands were moving over his back and over his stubbled hair, looking for a place to grasp him and pull him closer.  
  
    He pulled his lips off and let his fingers play with her nipples, finding them pointy and hard. He moved his lips up to hers, kissing her. She kissed him back, moaning into his mouth which he greedily took as entrance, slipping his tongue into her mouth. How could she possibly taste this sweet all the time? He couldn’t help but buck his hips against hers, his cock impossibly hard all just from this little bit. His hands moved down to her pants, undoing the belt and unbuttoning them, pulling them off her. He let his hand slip between her legs and rub slowly against her underwear. They were already soaked from her wetness. He suspected she had been playing with herself before coming to him.  
  
    She seemed to be letting him take control and he loved that. He was much more dominant than his brother was, quickly sliding his hands to her thighs and pulling her legs up while he let go of her lips, sliding down between her legs. She gasped when he used his fingers to slide her underwear to the side. He didn’t have to see to know her body, and he let his tongue lick against her wetness. Her moan nearly deafened him with how beautiful it sounded and he NEEDED more. So he let his tongue slip inside her wet folds of her pussy, tasting the sweetness there too. Then he trailed his tongue to her clit, gently lapping at that. Her hands founds his shoulders, digging her nails in with how good it felt.  
  
    Eclipse had never expected him to be this experienced and faintly wondered how he was, but that thought was taken away when he started sucking on her clit. She nearly screamed when he did that, begging him to let her have him in return. He chuckled during his licking. He seemed to be relentless, licking on her clit now as a finger slipped inside her. She cried out, grasping the sleeping bag under them to keep from leaving scratches on Hesh’s body.  
  
Hesh could feel her body readying to climax and he stopped suddenly, letting his finger slide out. Panting, Eclipse started begging Hesh. “Please, please, I need more, Hesh,” she pleaded and he moved up. He kissed her to silence her pleas while his hand pulled his throbbing cock out of his underwear, teasing the tip against her entrance. That elicited another moan into his mouth. Without another moment to waste, he gave one quick thrust and was inside of her.  
  
Eclipse pulled her mouth away in a breathless moan, wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him close. She couldn’t believe he was this big and hard. It filled her to the very brim, making her feel complete. Hesh was groaning in return, grasping the sleeping bag under them. She was so tight, gripping him and squeezing. He could feel his control beginning to fray, hips beginning to thrust into her without his command.  
  
“Take me, Hesh, take me please,” she whispered into his ear and every ounce of control shattered. He slipped out from her arms, moving to kneel there and pulling her legs apart more so he could get just a bit further inside her. He thrusted hard and quick, enough to make her moans fill the air around them while he grunted with each thrust. He could feel her arch her back in pleasure and her pussy tightened its grip around his cock. He groaned loudly, feeling himself throb. He was close.  
  
Hesh grabbed her, pulling her off his cock and flipped her around so she was on her hands and knees. He grabbed her waist and held her still as he thrust inside her from behind. She cried out again, and he could feel her get tighter. It seemed she liked being taken from behind and Hesh grinned darkly, thrusting hard, but not quick. Just enough so that she’d get the pleasure she was seeking, but not enough to let her finish.  
  
“You’re mine, Eclipse. All mine, and you’d best remember that,” Hesh hissed down at her and she moaned in agreement.  
  
“Yes, Hesh, yes, I’ll remember that,” she cried out and once Hesh heard what he needed, he thrust even harder into her, picking his pace up again. Then she screamed and her pussy squeezed his cock the tightest it had ever been. Hesh groaned, feeling her cum around his cock. He pulled out and flipped her back, putting her on her knees while he stood up. His fingers slipped into her hair, grasping her head and forcing her mouth onto his cock. She moaned around him, greedily sucking on him.  
  
“That’s it, that’s it. Good girl,” Hesh groaned, holding her head still while he fucked her mouth. She was shivering under his touch, moaning with every word he spoke. She really did like being dominated. He felt his climax coming and he forced his cock down into her throat as he gave one last loud moan. His cum dripped down her throat and she swallowed it willingly. He slowly pulled out of her mouth and panted, listening to her deep breaths as well. Sinking to his knees, he found her face with his hands, letting his forehead touch hers.  
  
She placed her hands on his face in return and the two caught their breath. “I love you, Eclipse,” Hesh whispered to her and he could feel her smile without needing to see it. She kissed him and he could taste himself on her lips, but he didn’t care. After a few moments, she pulled away and whispered back to him.  
  
    “I love you, Hesh,” and with those words, they both laid back on the sleeping bag, too exhausted to say much else. While Eclipse was asleep within moments, Hesh laid awake. There was something hiding in him, a pit of dread in his stomach. He felt that something horrible was going to happen and there would be nothing he could do to stop it. What it was, he wasn’t really sure. But besides that, there was also dread at what he had done. Now he had really done the ultimate betrayal to his brother. First he seduced Eclipse into loving him, then kissed her, now he had sex with her.  
  
If Logan found out about this, Hesh was sure that he was going to die.    

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, I know, Hesh = bad. Hey, I had that planned from the beginning......


	24. Base

“How did we not find this?” Hesh whispered to Kick, who was shrugging while the group was gazing forward. They had finally found the location that the helicopter had landed and now they were sitting in the jungle once more, staring ahead at a base that was hidden in the side of a mountain. The truck they had been using was hidden somewhere far behind so they wouldn’t be caught. About three days had past since Merrick had been kidnapped and now they had finally arrived at their destination. But they needed to hurry. They knew that Merrick didn’t have much longer to live if he stayed in Rorke’s clutches.   
  
“Alright, let’s move in,” Hesh ordered and the five Ghosts slipped into the shadows of the jungle. Eclipse was on Hesh’s side, having not left it since that night in the cave. He had to shake his head to keep from daydreaming about that, so he wouldn’t be distracted. The rest of the team had been fairly quiet since the kidnapping of their boss, but now that they were about to rescue him, they had become a bit more talkative. They slunk through the jungle, finding that this base was heavily guarded. There were people patrolling the jungle area that they had to sneak by, people on the walls, and guards moving in and out of the base.  
  
It was difficult to get by undetected, but it became possible thanks to Riley and Lucia, being able to draw guards away with sounds before silently joining their masters again. Hesh felt a tap on his shoulder and Eclipse pointed out a grate that was spilling out water. He nodded and they went to it. There was a latch on it, but with a silenced pistol shot, the lock was blown off and the Ghosts crawled into the pipe. Crouching through it, they followed it through until they came to a ladder. Before Hesh climbed the ladder, he knelt down and gave quiet orders to Riley while Eclipse did the same for Lucia. They told the two animals to stay hidden and head back to the truck. They seemed to understand as they went back out through the pipe. Hesh then stood up and climbed the ladder, looking up through the grate at the top. They were in a service room for the base and he made sure no one was around before quietly lifting the grate and moving it out of the way so they could get up there.  
  
Once inside, he peeked out the door. It was a long hallway, but there must have been something watching out for them because Hesh saw Logan open a door and step out of it. Hesh ducked back, waiting for a bit before peering down the hallway. Logan was locking the door behind them before walking off down the hallway. He waited until his brother was gone before taking a step out and looking around. They were safe so he headed down the hallway, the team following carefully behind. Hesh nodded at the others before backing up a bit and kicking the door open. They were faced with a room that was identical to the torture room back in that very first base, but this time, there was Merrick sitting in the chair. His face looked like it had gone a few rounds with Logan’s fist and there was a large gash down his arm, ripping open the sleeve.  
  
“Merrick? Merrick, wake up,” Hesh said, grasping the man’s shoulder. Merrick’s head was bowed against his chest and Hesh put his ear near Merrick’s mouth. He could hear quiet breathing and with his fingers against his neck, he felt the heartbeat. Merrick was still alive, but Hesh suspected it wouldn’t be much longer before Merrick wouldn’t be alive anymore. He nodded for Keegan to come over and he did, using his knife to cut the bindings around Merrick. Hesh put his arm under Merrick’s and pulled him to standing. Keegan helped, putting his arm under Merrick’s other side and helping Hesh carry him. Eclipse was standing by the door, looking back and forth and she nodded, using hand signs to say it was clear.  
  
They carried him out with Kick, Neptune, and Eclipse watching out and guarding them. They started heading back to the entrance they had come from when two voices drifted down the hallway, followed by many footsteps. Eclipse shoved the group down the hallway, past the door to the service room.  
  
“He’s almost ready to break, Rorke. He’s knocked out for the moment, but I feel like when he wakes, we’ll be able to get what we need,” Logan’s voice came from the end of the hallway that he had disappeared down.  
  
“Really? I should hope so. I suspect we’ll be having visits from our dear friends the Ghosts soon. They wouldn’t let us keep Merrick much longer than we already have,” Rorke’s voice joined his. The footsteps grew louder so Eclipse kept them moving, being at the back of the group and looking back every so often. Kick and Neptune led the group. Where they were going, no one was quite sure, but they had to keep away from Rorke and Logan.  
  
Not long after they kept moving, an alarm started going off and a voice came on the intercom. “Everyone be on alert, we have some unwanted visitors that have stolen our guest from his room. Find them, I want them all, dead or alive,” Rorke’s voice echoed. “And a message to Eclipse and Hesh, you had better be prepared, because Logan wants both of you the most.” The two met eyes and Eclipse nodded. He must have known something about their little relationship.  
  
Kick suddenly jumped in front of the group, shooting his silenced Vector at a door that had opened, a Federation soldier stepping out. He fell to the ground, dead, but voices behind him told the group that he hadn’t been alone. Eclipse pulled them back to another door, opening it up and finding an empty room, by the looks of it, a communication room. They ran in, shutting the door behind them with Neptune locking it afterwards. Good thing too, because the door started being pounded on, a demanding voice wanting the door open. Hesh looked around quickly, spotting a door on the other side of the room. He nodded to it and the three Ghosts went to the door, peeking through. They pulled out their weapons, aiming both ways and shooting a few times.  
  
Hesh followed them when they left the room and he followed them further. They were running any which way they could, lost in the maze of this base. Eventually they came to an end of the hallways, an exit door in front of them. Hesh didn’t quite trust the door, but he nodded to have the door opened. They opened it and it was an exit to the outside. However, they discovered that the base stretched from one side to the other of the mountain, as they were on a metal walkway along a cliff. They headed down it, Keegan struggling to hold onto Merrick because the the walkway was smaller. They were about halfway down when a door further down opened up.      
  
Federation soldiers stepped out, aiming up the walkway while more appeared from above, Logan with them. The skull mask looked down and Hesh turned, meeting his eyes. They were filled with hate and anger, especially when he realized that his brother was wearing a skull mask similar to his own. Hesh looked down ahead at Eclipse. She was looking past him at Logan, her eyes appearing sad, but strong. Then they met his and Hesh met all the other eyes of his team.  
  
“Give it up, Hesh, you’re done. There’s nowhere to go,” Logan yelled at them. Hesh looked over the edge, seeing a large pool of water down at the bottom. There was more base connected around the pool, but it was their best bet. He heard Logan coming up behind them, his steps behind the only one moving towards them. Eclipse slipped by Hesh and Merrick and Hesh turned, watching her as she stood defensively in front of Hesh. Logan walked until he was right in front of her. They stood there, staring at one another, Logan’s hateful eyes against Eclipse’s determined eyes.  
  
Logan had raised his arm to hit Eclipse, but she quickly pushed him against the railing, leaning him over, towards the pool of water. Her strength surprised Hesh, but he watched and so did everyone else. Even the Federation soldiers were watching because they knew the history between these two Ghosts. Eclipse said nothing, just staring at her once boyfriend and lover. He met her eyes, a growl coming from his throat. Eclipse’s eyes then softened and she whispered something.  
  
“All these days I spent wandering, lost and alone. But you were there,” she said, hesitating, and Logan’s eyes suddenly went wide.  
  
“You took my hand and led me to freedom. No more shall I be lost and alone, but found and loved,” he whispered in return before his eyes rolled back in his head and he groaned loudly, hand grasping his head. Whatever they were talking about, it seemed to be jogging something in Logan’s mind. Eclipse looked at Hesh. He nodded at her and took a deep breath, grabbing tighter onto Merrick before leaping over the edge. Eclipse had grabbed Logan as well, leaping with him while the other three following. The Federation shot at them, but stopped after a bit, realizing that their leader’s favorite toy was in the group as well. Hopefully the bullets had all missed them.  
  
The fall seemed to take ages, but once they hit, the impact jarred Hesh because he was trying to hold onto Merrick. It hurt, but he was able to keep a grasp on the man. However, he struggled to pull him up to the surface. He was running out of air, but luckily, Neptune came down and helped pull him up. They gasped for air, looking around. Merrick seemed to be waking up, groaning loudly. Eclipse was struggling to hold Logan above the water, who appeared to be knocked out. Kick swam over and helped her hold him up while Keegan went to the shore.  
  
Finally getting the group the edge of the pool of water, they were able to regroup, seeing Federation soldiers being moved in near them. So with their weighted team, they made a bolt for a door back into the base. They had almost no where else to go but back inside to hide. Keegan led the way, finding a storage room for them all to hide in. Merrick woke with a jolt, being taken by Neptune to sit down. Hesh sat down, motioning for Eclipse to bring Logan over to him and she did before jumping back to the doorway to keep watch.  
  
They had Logan back by some miracle, but now they were in their worst nightmare: trapped in a base held by Rorke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I kinda realized that I wrote myself into a corner and the next chapter shows you why. I had that one written when I first started the story and realized that I kidnapped Merrick a little too early *facepalm* Oh well. I hope you enjoy this one and the next.


	25. Decoy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short but important :)

Hesh took a moment to look around at the team. Kick was wrapping up a leg wound with some medkit gauze, trying it get it as tight as he could to stop the bleeding. He must have been grazed by one of the bullets on the fall down. Keegan was grasping at his side, groaning slightly. He kept murmuring something about a broken rib while he gritted his teeth. He had to have been hiding it from when they emerged from the water and now he couldn’t anymore. Merrick’s sleeve was still ripped open and the gash was still bleeding profusely. The leader wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but he knew he had been saved for the moment as he tried wrapping his arm tightly.. His face was bruised and broken from Logan’s torturing. Neptune was limping across the room, trying to stretch out his leg that had gotten injured during the jump. Eclipse was standing by the door, peeking out to make sure that they wouldn’t be found. Her clothes were wet and torn here and there, but she appeared to be unharmed. Then there was Hesh himself. He was also uninjured, but he held the broken Logan in his arms. Logan couldn’t go through this again, there would be nothing left of his brother if Rorke got his hands on him.   
  
However, there wasn’t anywhere that they could go. Hesh was trying to think of a plan, but there was nothing that could help them now. They had no map of the base, no resources to work with. Rorke had them cornered and they were going to die. But then he noticed something that bothered him. Eclipse had turned away from the doorway and was slowly tracing her gaze along each person in the room before settling on Hesh himself and Logan. She gave a sad smile and he quickly felt his heart tighten. She was planning something and it wasn’t good.  
  
“There’s nothing we can do here, Hesh, and you know it well enough. I’m going to go out there and I’m going to be a decoy,” she murmured. Hesh felt his heart jump up into his throat as he tried to swallow. She couldn’t be serious. He noticed the other members of his team quickly look up at her, surprised.  
  
“I know I wasn’t the best Ghost team member when I started. I was selfish and secretive and I’m sorry. I wish I could go back and be more a team player. But thank you for accepting me as a Ghost eventually,” she told them before her sad gaze looked at Hesh and the limp Logan. She knelt down and sighed.  
  
“Thank you, Hesh. For…..everything. You taught me things that Elias never got to. You were there for me when I thought I was alone. You……..made me happy again. I thought I wouldn’t have anyone after I lost Logan, you proved me wrong,” she murmured softly before looking down at Logan. “Tell him that I thank him for everything he ever taught me and for being my best friend and…...that I’m sorry I couldn’t be here to be his friend longer.” She leaned down and kissed Logan’s forehead while Hesh tried to stifle his tears. His vision began to blur from the incoming tears as he tried to fight them, but he couldn’t as tears rolled down his cheeks.  
  
“Eclipse, please, we can figure something else out,” he begged softly but she shook her head. She looked him in the eyes before slowly moving forward before kissing his lips. They were so soft, as they always were. He couldn’t imagine a world without this softness. She pulled away and looked him in the eyes and whispered, “Goodbye Hesh.”  
  
With that, she slipped away from his grasp before he could grab her. She looked at the group one last time with that gentle smile of hers before slipping out the door. Hesh listened, despite the pounding of his heart in his ears. Her footsteps were soft, but he could still hear them before she yelled.  
  
“Hey, come on, idiots, let’s see if you can keep up!” she yelled before Hesh could hear her retreating footsteps and then heavy ones right after her, chasing her as she led them away from her group.  
  
Hesh sat there, unmoving with his hand clenched, but that was when he felt something in his hand. She had put something there. He slowly opened his fist and a shining sparkle found his eyes. Her snowflake necklace. He choked back a sob as he held it tight in his hand before slowly putting it around his own neck.  
  
He would be sure that she got it back.


	26. Fleeing

    The team was silent, and an eternity seemed to stretch by the group even though it was only a few moments after Eclipse had run out the door. Hesh looked down at Logan and then looked at the rest of the group. They all seemed to be waiting for his instructions. Nodding, Hesh wiped his hand over his face, removing the tears and stood up, putting Logan over his shoulder with a grunt. The rest of the team stood up and moved over to them.  
  
    “Her sacrifice will not be in vain,” Hesh whispered, trying to keep his words from choking in his throat. “She ran off to the left, so we’ll move right. With luck, there will be a hallway straight to the other side of the mountain so we can get back to our truck.” They nodded and got their weapons out, holding each other up before heading out the door. Hesh moved first, looking back and forth. There was yelling in the direction that Eclipse disappeared, but the other way seemed silent. So he nodded again and they began making their way down the empty hallway.  
  
    By another miracle (Hesh was sure something had to be looking out for them), that same hallway was a straight shot to the other side of the mountain. All of the guards seemed to have disappeared, probably called away by Eclipse being a distraction. They moved through the now-familiar jungle and found their way back to their truck. Riley and Lucia were underneath, waiting for them. The two crawled out upon seeing the team and Riley barked happily when he smelled Logan, but Lucia was looking back and forth.  
  
    Hesh couldn’t even look at the wolf and he laid Logan in the back seat of the truck. He could hear her whine and start to move back towards the base, but Hesh grabbed her armor, holding her back. Lucia’s big wolf eyes stared at him and he met them, the silence between animal and human being enough. Her ears drooped and her tail went between her legs as Riley gently whined for her to jump into the truck too. The wolf looked back out towards where they had come from before hopping into the truck. She laid down on the floor, ears still drooped. Hesh climbed in with the rest of the team and they started heading out.  
  
    It was silent in the vehicle before a beeping caught their attention. A tablet that had been left in the truck showed an incoming transmission. It was from their base. A man appeared, a soldier of theirs and he informed them that a drone had found its way to the base and they were now getting a picture in. Stopping under a tree, Kick held the tablet up so everyone could see. The drone was hovering over the pool of water, watching a group of Federation soldiers fighting with a girl in black. They were in the shallows and the drone zoomed in on the scene. She was fighting hand-to-hand combat and winning. Her body moved with such grace and Hesh felt hope welling in his chest.  
  
    Maybe she could fight her way out of there and get back to them. Once the last Federation had fallen, she looked up and froze. The camera zoomed back out, moving to look in the direction that she was looking. Rorke was standing there, surrounded by a large group of Federation. He was saying something to her and Hesh could see from her body language that she was angry. She shouted something back at him and Rorke grinned with all the malice he could muster.  
  
    Raising his arm, Rorke raised his pistol and fired. Eclipse fell back into the water, the blood spilling into the water around her. Hesh had heard a scream of “No!” as soon as it had happened, but it didn’t realize it was him until he had snatched the tablet out of Kick’s hands, staring down at the screen. He couldn’t believe what he was watching. Rorke walked out into the water and was looking down at her body. He raised the pistol again, aimed at her forehead. Hesh could see that she was still alive and she smiled at Rorke before the picture suddenly cut out.  
  
    Hesh couldn’t move. His body felt like lead. His knuckles were white from gripping the tablet so hard and little teardrops fell onto the screen once more. She…...no, there’s no way she could be dead. M-Maybe Rorke decided not to kill her. Maybe he was just going to hold her captive. But the pit of dread in his heart grew. Why would he need Eclipse? By taking her out, he would wound both Hesh and Logan so that they’d both be vulnerable and consumed by rage that they would be reckless.  
  
    His mind stopped working for the rest of the trip back to the base. Logan still laid in the backseat, knocked out from whatever had happened. Kick was slowly able to wrench the tablet out of Hesh’s grasp before using it to converse back at the base. He stared out the window, replaying what he saw in his mind over and over again. Eclipse’s defiant smile at Rorke before the image cut out. She was too strong for him to break, so it would be simple just to kill her. Rorke ripped Hesh’s and Logan’s hearts out of their chests.  
  
    Hiding his face from his team, he started to cry silently, the tears continually falling even after he felt like he couldn’t cry anymore. Eclipse was gone. All those times he swore he’d never leave her side and now she was gone. His heart broke while he rode in the truck. Here he was thinking his heart would be broken by her choice, but instead it was broken by her sacrifice to save him, Logan, and the rest of the team. He knew that she could have stayed, but that would have led to all of them dying and she knew that. She knew that it was all she could do, so she gave her life to let them live theirs. How could he possibly move on though? Eclipse had been the only love that Hesh ever had, and the only person he shared himself with.  
  
    When they made it back to the base, Hesh watched as they rushed Logan to the medical bay, while also handcuffing him to the gurney he was placed on. That was just in case that Logan was still brainwashed when he woke, but Hesh honestly…...didn’t care very much. All he cared about was the hole that had been ripped open in his chest. He wandered away, despite the other Ghosts trying to talk to him about debriefing to the higher ups. His feet took him to her room. He walked straight to her bed and laid down, picking up the pink and white blanket that she had retrieved from her childhood home and pushing his face in it. It smelled like her, the clean, flowery smell she naturally had.  
  
    He was going to miss her and he began to cry again before falling asleep with her smell around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Inserting twist in story here*


	27. Sadness

Hesh woke hours later, still wrapped in her blanket. He got up slowly, as if his body was giving up on getting up, but he forced himself to with the thoughts that Eclipse wouldn’t have wanted him to give up. He set down the blanket and looked at her desk. On the back wall was a picture hanging up. When he leaned forward to look at it, he realized it was the picture of her and her parents that she had also retrieved. He reached forward, taking it off the wall. Staring at it, he saw the little girl that was Eclipse.   
  
    In the picture, she was clear skinned, fair and light. There were no blemishes of any type on her body and her grin was oh so big. They must have done something fun before the picture was taken. But at the same time, he saw the strong woman he had grown to love in that girl as well. She still had nightmares and they bothered her, much like nightmares would have bothered a child. She was playful in certain ways, allowing that child to still exist, despite all the hardships she had gone through.  
  
    He smiled sadly at the picture. That girl wouldn’t see anything more of her life. She wouldn’t know what was going to happen in the future. That had been taken away from her. Hesh set it down on the desk, looking around the room. He was going to leave it untouched, for now. He didn’t want to touch anything of hers, afraid it might make him cry. He gave another sad smile when he remembered peeking into her room late one night and she was in her room, dancing. She was so beautiful as she danced around the room that he didn’t dare alert her to his presence. So he watched her until she grew tired, but now he felt like he was watching her ghost dance around the room, the memory her moving through him.  
  
    Slowly, he left the room and found his way to the medical bay. He asked the doctors softly about Logan and they told him that he seemed fine, just asleep for the moment and let him in the room with his brother. Hesh stood back, leaning against the wall as he stared at Logan. His head was tilted back against the pillow, his eyes shut and his mouth closed. Hesh silently wondered what he was dreaming about before glinting caught his eye. He was handcuffed on both sides to the gurney and Hesh wasn’t surprised. They were taking no chances in case Logan was still brainwashed. Which Hesh was about to find out because he looked back at his brother’s face when he heard him groan. Hesh moved closer, watching every moment.  
  
    Logan’s head hurt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. When he tried squinting open his eyes, it was too bright and he groaned, trying to bring his hand to his face to shade his eyes, but was met with a clinking sound. He groaned further, trying to sit up while squinting his eyes. When his vision slowly came into focus, he realized he had handcuffs on him. His memory was foggy. He didn’t remember getting here, wherever he was. It was too bright and white for him to really focus on anything, until he noticed a black blob standing beside him. He turned his head, squinting as he tried to focus on the shape. When it finally clicked, Logan realized it was his brother Hesh, watching him with a guarded expression.  
  
    “Hesh?” he asked in a whisper and Hesh raised an eyebrow.  
  
    “Do you know where you are?” Hesh asked him, with what Logan thought was a hint of coldness in his voice. Odd, he didn’t remember making his brother mad……  
  
    “I…..I don’t actually know? Hesh, what’s going on? Why am I…..” Logan trailed off with a loud groan, leaning back. His head was throbbing and the next moment, he realized why he was handcuffed. Memories flashed by his eyes and he felt his heart clench. From being put in the hole in the jungle to all the beatings Rorke put him through, the food that twisted his mind to finally obeying Rorke’s orders. Images of Hesh appeared, his brother fighting to find him, but he didn’t care, he just wanted to kill him. Then he saw Eclipse, working to save him, but all he felt was hate and betrayal.  
  
It flashed to him holding a gun to her head. She stared at him and he heard Rorke’s “do it” and he pulled the trigger. She got lucky because it was one of the chambers without the bullet but then he glared and smashed the handle over her head, knocking her out. A really brief image of a picture of Hesh and Eclipse staring into each other’s eyes passed, but he just assumed it was mocked to make him hate them more. Finally, on the metal walkway that brought him here. She said those words to him and he flashed back to something Elias had taught them. If either of them were confused, repeat that phrase to each other and it will dislodge any confusion, but it only would work once, like a mental mousetrap that would spring in both of them only once if one used the phrase.  
  
Logan groaned, opening his eyes again after all the images. Hesh was looking at him strangely, eyebrow raised again. “I remember everything,” Logan murmured, shaking his head and then feeling complete regret at what he had been doing the past year and a half against them. But there was nothing he could do now and he was sure that his brother, Eclipse, and his team wouldn’t trust him anymore. In fact, he didn’t even trust himself because he didn’t know if Rorke had done the same thing to him of leaving a mental trap that if something were spoken, he’d be turned back again. But…...Eclipse? Where was Eclipse?  
  
“Hesh, where’s Eclipse? Is she here?” Logan asked his brother and Hesh looked away from him, silent. Logan widened his eyes at Hesh’s reaction. “Where is Eclipse? Please…..where is she?” Hesh still said nothing and Logan knew that it was something bad. Terror was beginning to set in when Hesh reached into his pocket and pulled out a glittering necklace. When Logan looked closer, he saw the snowflake and his heart broke. Logan laid his head back, the tears beginning to stream down his face.  
  
“She gave herself to the Federation to allow us to escape. She fought…….to the very end,” Hesh said, whispering the last part of that sentence. Logan’s gaze snapped to him with those words. Hesh’s gaze was down on the snowflake necklace in his hand and he slowly closed his fingers around it. Logan’s mind struggled to wrap around Hesh’s words. His girlfriend was gone? She…….she had done the ultimate thing for them…….  
  
Logan let the tears fall freely and he was barely aware of Hesh unlocking the handcuffs until his brother’s hand rested on his shoulder. He looked up at the man and he saw the pity that Hesh had for him. Logan let his brother rub his shoulder as he cried and he had no clue that Hesh was actually hiding his own pain, his own sadness in the matter because he didn’t want him to know that they were so incredibly close and that she had loved him while Logan was evil. That would cause a rift so deep that Hesh was sure Logan wouldn’t trust him anymore.  
  
When Logan was done, the doctors came in, appearing to have respected their time together. They ran all sorts of tests on Logan and Hesh simply sat there, watching. Once they had determined that Logan was mentally stable, after a few hours, they allowed him to get up and Logan looked at Hesh, who hadn’t moved once during the whole time. He asked if he could be taken to her room and Hesh simply nodded, leading him out of the hospital room.  
  
When they got there, Hesh stood at the doorway, watching Logan as he walked around Eclipse’s room. Logan stood silently in the middle, looking around. He saw all the research on her desk and felt a pang of regret when he saw images of himself ordering around Federation, working against her. Logan sat down on the bed, put his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands.  
  
Hesh stepped in the room and looked around. Eclipse’s notebook had disappeared, he suddenly noted. Usually she carried it in her backpack, but she hadn’t been wearing her backpack for the mission. He noticed it tucked under her desk and he knelt down to pull it out. Opening it, he found her notebook and a small journal with an envelope tucked inside. Smiling to himself, he pulled out the two books. However, he wondered what the envelope was, so he opened the journal and got the letter out. He read it quietly, realizing it was from her mother. He felt sad at the end of it. She really was the star in his sky and was the star in Logan’s as well. When he peeked at the page, he saw that she was writing about her feelings for Hesh and he quickly closed the book, tucking it back in the backpack. Logan can’t read that.  
  
When he opened the notebook of her drawings, he saw that a page had been marked. So he flipped through it to that page, feeling that pit of dread grow at the sight of the picture. It was of her, Logan, and himself. They were drawn to be standing together, her in the middle. They had their arms around her and hers around their waists. They were all smiling, dressed in civilian clothing. Hesh wished that this drawn picture could have come true. Where the war was finally over and they were able to return to their normal lives. He looked up, seeing that Logan still was sitting on her bed, so he stood up and walked over. He tapped his brother’s leg and he looked up. Hesh gently set the book down on his lap, allowing him to see the picture.  
  
Logan felt the anguish really set in upon seeing that picture. She wanted to be normal. She wanted to escape the military life and live with the brothers finally in peace. He didn’t mind that Hesh was in the picture, he figured they got to be close friends in the year and half he was away. But something deep inside him knew that there was more to it then just friends. He brushed that away, staring down at the picture.  
  
“Logan, we need to get you debriefed,” Hesh murmured and Logan didn’t look up at him, his mind still stuck on Eclipse. “Eclipse wouldn’t have wanted us to mourn her. She would have wanted us to finally get the revenge on Rorke that we’ve wanted. She gave us one more reason to get revenge now.” Logan looked up at him finally and met his brother’s eye. He saw the fury there at Eclipse being taken away and he nodded.  
  
It was time to go after Rorke in full force, he could never be forgiven for taking the light away from their lives.


	28. Truth

Four months after Eclipse had been taken from them, the Walker brothers were still seeking Rorke. After they stormed the base where Logan had been rescued at, they found it completely empty and all the data files wiped from the computers. Frustrated, the Walkers spent many sleepless nights following every little trail of that evil man for as long as they could. Hints and blips of him appeared around the globe. How he was getting around so easily was baffling to the Ghosts, but they figured with the world piecing itself together, he could slip through the cracks of the reforming systems.  
  
    That and there were still Federation fanatics in all different countries, probably helping him escape. Why he was running though, was the real question on their minds. He could easily come at them now when they’re reckless from Eclipse’s death, but he doesn’t. It was driving them crazy with wondering what the reasoning was. They finally got their first break the first week of the fifth month.  
  
    The two men were just returning from a lead that was nothing but a dead end. They were angry and frustrated, so when Merrick came up to them, they slightly snapped at him until he smirked and they both kinda stared at him for that. They had expected him to snap back at them, with his own frustrations of Rorke being free to wreak havoc on the world. Without a word, the head Ghost handed Hesh a file and Hesh opened it, Logan peering over his shoulder.  
  
    A report was in it, about Merrick being on an oil rig out on the ocean. There was a picture attached from a recon flight, of Rorke standing out on the rig’s railings, conversing with other Federation soldiers. Both men looked up expectantly at Merrick and he explained.  
  
    “We got word of a ship heading out to the ocean, not responding to radio calls, when investigated, it was found that the ship docked at an oil rig that’s not on any map. A recon flight was sent out to there and this picture was taken. It was sent straight to us upon being found,” Merrick explained as they walked into the command room. It appeared that the Ghosts had already been hard at work with the Walker brothers away. Kick and Keegan were working on the computer, getting more recon flights over the rig to make sure that Rorke didn’t leave. Neptune was coordinating with other military groups to get the info they needed.  
  
    “Rorke hasn’t left the rig yet?” Logan asked.  
  
    “He hasn’t left yet and that’s a good thing. We can ambush them on the rig and there won’t be anywhere to go once we do,” Merrick replied.  
  
    “I can’t wait to put a bullet through his skull,” Hesh murmured to himself, but Merrick and Logan heard him. Logan glanced over at him and saw him playing with something around his neck. It wasn’t just his dogtags, it was something else, something shiny. Logan then thought back to the last four months with his brother. Hesh had been mostly quiet except when he needed to speak, which was strange. This left Logan to do most of the talking, which he wasn’t used to, but he was getting the hang of it.  
  
    He found out from some of the other Ghosts that Hesh had considered Eclipse to be his best friend while Logan was gone, but they knew better than to tell him the real truth, leaving that part to Hesh. However, Logan still suspected something once in awhile when he would hear Hesh crying in his sleep, calling out Eclipse’s name. There was something he needed to know, but he wasn’t going to learn it, yet.  
  
    They saw that another recon flight was en route so they all stood around the command center, waiting. Kick, Keegan, and Neptune joined Merrick, Hesh, and Logan in the middle, watching the camera as it zoomed over the ocean. The rig was coming up quick and the anticipation was growing in the group. If they confirmed that Rorke was still on the oil rig, they would go and raid it in the next day while making sure he stayed there.  
  
    The camera came into view of the deck of the rig. It was quiet, with almost no guards hovering around. This was odd. So the UAV that was flying over released a drone with a smaller camera to get closer. The drone buzzed down, showing that it was still rather quiet, with only the workers working in the rig itself. There were no soldiers. Did Rorke leave already? The drone buzzed in, observing the area until it found a heavy metal door that had light peeking out from underneath. The drone hovered upward, peering in through a small window above the door. The sight made Hesh and Logan nearly scream.  
  
    Rorke was standing in the room, surrounded by Federation soldiers and they were all staring at a single person hanging on the back wall. They were handcuffed to the wall and were hanging down, legs too weak to stand anymore. That wasn’t the interesting part. The interesting part was the dark red hair and the female body that the person had. Hesh gripped the snowflake necklace, his heart pounding and Logan was panting softly, his own heart throbbing. She was wearing nothing but a thin gray tanktop and black pants. Rorke walked over and lifted her head.  
  
    “Eclipse……” both boys whispered. Her eyes were closed and she looked like she’d been through hell. But she was alive. Rorke didn’t kill her back then, he had captured her and they knew instantly that he was turning her against them like he did Logan. They watched as Rorke whispered something in her ear. She opened her eyes slowly, gazing up at him. He grinned maliciously at her and she simply nodded slowly. He let her head fall again, unlocking the handcuffs and letting her fall to the floor. The Federation soldiers came over and grabbed her under her arms, picking her up. More surrounded her and sounds of punching and knives being drawn was heard through the camera. Rorke stepped back, smirking. Then the drone heard her scream.  
  
    “Eclipse!” Logan yelled as the drone slowly floated out of the oil rig and back to the UAV. Logan panted heavily, his heart full of dread and rage. They had to go now, they couldn’t wait another second. “We need to leave, now!” Logan shouted at the Ghosts, who agreed instantly. Each member ran off to go prepare, but Hesh stood still. He was staring at the screen, the image of her being surrounded by other guys ingrained in his brain. He knew that they were doing more than just hurting her. But his mind was also still trying to calm his throbbing heart. For so long he had been trying to let his love for her go, but now it was back, stronger than before. But it also came with dread.  
  
    If they were able to rescue Eclipse, she’d be forced to pick him or Logan, who is still unaware of the passion they shared. Things were about to get a lot worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *smiles innocently* What? Did you really think I was gonna kill Eclipse? Nah.....


	29. Oil Rig

    It was not one hour after they had discovered that Eclipse was still alive that they were all suited up and leaving to go to the oil rig. The Ghosts filed into the transport that was going to take them there and they all buckled in. It took off and headed the way the rig was. As they were all sitting there, it was silent. Hesh thought back to when he went on that mission with Eclipse where her knee touched his. He wished he could have that again before glancing over at Logan, who was staring out the window. Should he tell him now? Before anything else were to happen and it would only get bad? No…..he shouldn’t tell him now, not when their focus was on saving Eclipse in the first place, then he would tell him. 

    While they were getting ready, there were people studying the video from the drone. They had been informed that one of men who had grabbed Eclipse under the arm was the last Federation leader. Once he was gone, only Rorke would remain and the ragtag people who remained loyal to the Federation. So if they were able to save Eclipse and take out this last leader and Rorke, they could hopefully return to the United States as civilians helping pick up the pieces of this broken world. 

    He looked out the window as the clouds flew by. What were the horrors that Rorke was forcing Eclipse to endure? Logan probably had an idea, but with Rorke having such a shortened time frame, Hesh was sure that he was forcing her into more ugly horrors than Logan could have had. Hesh wanted so desperately to hug her and save her from the ugliness of what she was going through. But they needed to get to that rig before Rorke knew that they knew, before he was able to escape and slip through their fingers again, this time with someone they needed to take away from him.

    The rest of the ride continued to be silent until they arrived at the drop point. The helicopter was going to drop them in the water and they were to swim to the rig. It hovered above the sea and the team put on their masks, only Merrick being missing as he coordinated the efforts from back at the base. Hesh and Logan dropped into the water first, the coldness of the water surrounding them as they dove deeper to avoid detection.  
    “Comm check,” Merrick’s voice rang in their ears through the radio. 

    “Check,” Logan spoke first, his voice slightly off from having the mask and water around.

    “Check,” Hesh responded after, his voice the same. Neptune, Kick, and Keegan all responded as well. The five men swam a decent distance to the rig. They saw the supports and the line that dropped down to the floor of the ocean to get the oil. They surfaced, using similar weapons as they had for the rig down in the frigid waters way south. They shot up to the deck, letting the guns pull them upward to the railings. At the top, Kick got up first, weapon raised as he made sure they weren’t seen. The other four followed him up, getting to the top and drawing their weapons. They stalked forward, going deeper into the rig. They were trying to find the door to the room that they had spotted Eclipse.

    After incapacitating a few workers who saw them, they found the door. Keegan held up his hand in a countdown. Three. Two. One. He opened the door and the Ghosts burst inside. Only to find it empty. The wall still hung with handcuffs, but there was blood on the floor in front of them. Eclipse’s blood. Hesh and Logan cursed to themselves, but Kick pointed at two doors, one to their left and one to their right. Hesh nodded at Logan, motioning to the door on their left. They went that way, while Kick, Keegan, and Neptune when to the right. The door that Hesh and Logan went through was a stairwell on the side of the rig, that led upward. So they followed it up until they were peering through an open doorway, into a command room, where that last leader of the Federation was sitting, looking at a tablet. 

    Without a hesitation, they both stepped into the room, guns aimed at the leader. He looked up, almost unsurprised that they were there. He set down the tablet, staying seated as he stared at them. A soldier walked through the other door and Logan was instant in his reaction, shooting the man and killing him before aiming back at the leader. This was it, they’d find out where Eclipse was from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Needed a small filler chapter to get to the important one, lol, and couldn't think of anything simple. That's why this took so long to post ^.^'


	30. Eclipse's True Identity

Hesh stood back, gun in his hands as he watched Logan stalk towards the last Federation leader of the terrorist group. They had worked tirelessly for this moment and it was finally going to pay off once Logan got the location of Eclipse from him. He grabbed the man, yanking him out of his chair. He stared down the man, glaring death into his eyes before gritting his teeth and asking the question that they both wanted to know the answer to.

“Where is Eclipse?” he snarled. The leader looked stern, as though he didn’t feel like sharing until Logan punched him, hard. “Where is the girl that Rorke had with him?!” Logan was shaking the man now, desperate to get an answer. They were so focused on the man that they didn’t even notice the computer monitor had turned on behind them and a video feed was connecting until a voice spoke to them.

“Well now, Logan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so desperate to find someone before,” Rorke’s voice said. They quickly looked at the screen, shocked at seeing him before the rage started seeping in. “Ah, I notice the  other Ghosts looking for me as well on the rig. I’m not surprised. But I have a feeling that you didn’t come here to find me, but to find someone else.” Rorke smirked evilly before he reached for the camera, turning it around and the sight made both men’s blood freeze. 

Eclipse was in a chair, tied down. She had her head drooped against her chest. Her once beautiful hair was dirty and tangled. Her lovely skin was now littered with deep, bleeding cuts and tarnished with bruises. She was slump in the chair and looked weak. Hesh felt his heart seizing a little at that realization. She was never weak when he was with her. Even when Logan was changed, she still held on strong. Here…..she was not that girl. Rorke stepped into view, kneeling beside her chair with an evil smile. 

“You brainwashed me once, you will never do it again. If you do it to Eclipse, I’m going to kill you!!!” Logan roared at Rorke, pounding on the desk. Seeing his love in such a state was horrifying and enraging. He couldn’t bear to see her this way. Rorke just laughed at him as he stood up, standing behind her and yanking her head back. Her eyes were closed and there were more cuts along her face, lacing the beautiful skin.

“I’ve got little time to do the delicate twisting on her like I did with you, Logan. How she broke you in a moment will always escape me, but I will ensure this time that Eclipse doesn’t run away, she doesn’t break. She will remain loyal to me and me alone. After all, Eclipse has been away from her father for too long,” he said, grinning while the two boys looked like they’d been punched in the face. There was no way that she was Rorke’s daughter, there had been no record of it. Logan looked at Hesh, who looked back at him, both of them in shock. They looked back at the screen as Rorke started talking again.

“Eclipse’s mother died in childbirth, and I was deployed as a Ghost, I couldn’t take care of her. However, my friend Leo Tower and his wife, Abby, had lost his little girl in childbirth as well. Abby was Eclipse’s mother’s sister, so I knew she would end up looking like Abby and her own mother. I let them take her and raise her as their own. She became a Tower, but now I’m here to reclaim her as my daughter,” he smiled evilly as he looked down at her. Her breathing was shallow, that much they could see. Both men’s hearts filled with rage when they watched helplessly as Rorke took out a knife and shoved it into her hand. Her eyes shot open and she screamed. Her face was twisted with pain and they couldn’t fix it.

“FUCK YOU RORKE!!! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!” Logan roared once more as he slammed his fist on the table. Rorke was hurting his best friend, his love from childhood, and he could do nothing to stop it. Hesh wanted to scream. He had fallen in love with her in the months of Logan’s betrayal to them and he wanted her too, but in this way, neither of them would ever have her again. Her head fell forward again, her panting was heavy as Rorke removed the blade from her hand. 

“Eclipse! Eclipse, please look at me,” Logan was begging. She weakly raised her head. Tears were rolling down her cheeks from the pain and she locked gazes with Logan. “I’m coming to save you, my love. Please don't forget. Don't forget about us, just remember it.” She listened to him plead before Logan saw her gaze shift slightly. Logan turned and saw Hesh clutching something shiny around his neck as he looked at the screen. Logan looked back at her and she gave the softest of smiles before her head fell again and she was gone from them. 

Rorke chuckled evilly as he knelt down beside her, looking up at her hidden face. “Poor little Eclipse. She’s too weak to fight me anymore. Just one more test and then she’ll be mine,” he said before turning toward the camera. His combat knife was in his hand, coated with Eclipse’s blood that gleamed red in the light. He stood up and walked over to the camera. “I need to finish breaking her into my will. I doubt you will die here, in fact, I hope you don't so my new toy gets to kill you. Goodbye Elias’s sons.” The video clicked into black and something shook the rig with a massive explosion. 

Logan took his knife, poking it up into the leader’s throat. “What was that?!” He yelled at the man and the man responded, spitting at them as he did.

“He knew you would come here. The rig was covered in hidden napalm and now we will all die,” the leader gasped as Logan tightened his grasp around the man’s throat.

“Where is that girl?” A voice suddenly interrupted them. Logan turned slightly, seeing Hesh standing beside him. He had a death glare in his eyes.

“Rorke took her back into Brazilian jungles. Where exactly is a mystery to even me,” he replied before another explosion shook the rig. Hesh nodded and thanked him before Logan was surprised by his next actions. He pressed his hand to the man’s heart and lifted his wrist. A blade shot out and hit the man’s heart, killing him near instantly. Logan quickly looked at him before a louder, closer explosion took their attention.

“We gotta go!” Logan yelled, dropping the man’s body as they ran out the open door that the soldier had opened and Logan killed. They were in a hallway and as they ran, Logan looked back and forth down the hallways, making no sure they wouldn't be shot at, but there was no one there. This had been a trap, Logan realized. Rorke had wanted them to be here so he could try and kill all of them before his breaking of Eclipse was complete. Logan had to take a deep breath as he kept running. All they had to do was save her, that’s it. Once she was safe, he would take her far away from this and hope that nothing would ever come after them.

    But Hesh was planning the same for her. To take her away from this. The future was appearing very uncertain of what would happen should they end this finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working two jobs has put me at my limits, so I've been too tired to write, hence, why there hasn't been an update in ages. Thankfully, this chapter I've had written from the start as well. I did some final tweaking and now it's ready. 
> 
> Here's my other problem, I, myself, am not sure how I want it to end. I'm thinking of letting the people decide, but we shall see......


	31. Escaping

    As they were running, the oil rig continued to shake with explosions and Keegan’s voice came over the comms. “Kick is down! He took a hit from some flying shrapnel and can’t walk! I don’t know where Neptune has gone and he’s not responding to comms, we need to get out of here!” Keegan said, sounding frantic over the radio.

    “Keegan, transport is going to be on the east side of the rig, you should be on the south east side now, go north some and you’ll be there,” Merrick’s voice responded, reassuring the man. 

    “Alright, I’ve got Kick on my shoulder, I’ll try carrying him there,” Keegan replied.

    “Hesh, Logan, are you both there?” Merrick asked in the comms.

    “We’re here. Eclipse was already taken by Rorke. The Federation leader is dead, he claims that Rorke is taking her back to the Brazilian jungles for her final test,” Logan spoke through the comms. 

    “Damn, get yourselves out of there, like I told Keegan, the transport is on the east side. Based on where you are now, head south some and then east, you should see them. The entire rig is abandoned of soldiers,” Merrick informed them. “Only the oil rig men remain. In our haste to get to the rig, we forgot to check underwater signals. Turns out, they had a sub docked there as well and they must have known the moment we found them and cleared out.”

    Logan was so focused on Merrick’s words, he didn’t see the door that was bulging out from pressure ahead of them. It blew out, with shrapnel flying everywhere, but Hesh had seen it and grabbed him, pulling him into a small alcove. They were safe, for the moment. 

    “Logan! Focus! I know you want to save Eclipse, but you need to look at the moment right now!” Hesh said, yelling some sense into him. Logan nodded, focusing up as they turned the corner, running down the hallway and down some stairs. Then then turned, going to another door and opening it. It led to outside and the whole rig was on fire. They had to drop and crawl under a fallen metal beam and as Hesh was helping Logan up, they saw the transport helicopter hovering beside the rig, with Neptune already inside the heli and helping Keegan load Kick. 

    They ran at them, with another beam almost crashing down on top of them. The helicopter had to pull away, as the rig was a few moments from exploding. Keegan and Neptune reached out with their hands, meaning that the Walker brothers had to jump. The two brothers nodded at each other before leaping off the edge of the rig, just barely catching the hands of their teammates, who pulled them in just as the rig exploded. The shockwave almost drove the helicopter to the water, but it didn’t and they were safe, for the moment. 

    Hesh sat back in his seat as Logan closed the door of the copter. Neptune and Keegan tended to Kick, who had appeared to take shrapnel to his left thigh. It didn’t appear too bad though, as there wasn’t much blood. Hesh turned, looking out the window as they flew over the ocean, back to land. His heart hurt. Rorke had slipped Eclipse right through their fingers and he was going to brainwash her. To make matters worse, he had said that Eclipse was his daughter. Why hadn’t she told them that? Did she even know that she was Rorke’s daughter? 

    “Logan, after what you just told me, I did some research, found Eclipse’s real birth certificate. Rorke wasn’t lying. He was the father of a little baby girl, but the mother, Daniella, she died giving birth,” Merrick was saying over the radio. All the Ghosts turned, looking at each other with this information. “According to this, Rorke had the certificate hidden and a falsified one created for Leo and Abby, Abby being Daniella’s sister. It appears they never told Eclipse that she was not their daughter as Rorke had a special note made with the fake certificate that Eclipse was to never know so she wouldn’t have to follow her father’s footsteps in the Ghosts.” 

    “That’s why Rorke hated Dad a lot more than just letting him go. He hated him for raising his daughter in the footsteps that he had tried to keep her from,” Hesh spoke softly and everyone looked at him with a nod. It made perfect sense now why Rorke had done so much to kill Elias and tarnish his life by turning his own son against his teachings. Now he wanted to bring his daughter into the life he has been living and turn her against her own Ghost team. He looked back out the window, mind swimming with what they had just learned. Now he wanted to go to her and save her from the horrors even more because he knew what she looked like and what Rorke wanted to turn her into.

    If they didn’t save her soon, she’d be a Ghost hunter like Logan was before. The thought sickened Hesh to his stomach as he felt her snowflake necklace around his neck. He should have given this to Logan a long time ago, since he was the one that gave it to her. But he remembered what she said about it being the gift he gave her when they started dating. So she had given it to him, did that mean something more? Hesh wasn’t sure, but he liked to think that she gave it to him for a special reason. 

    Hesh was aware of Logan sitting across from him once again, his brother staring out the window like he was. He wondered what was running through his mind about all this new information and once again, the dread in Hesh made his stomach hurt. He still hadn’t told him about his fling with Eclipse. How could he? No, it had to remain a secret until Eclipse was here to explain it gently to him. But once again, he felt the dread inside him. She’d be forced to pick, unless…….unless she didn’t make it or one of them didn’t make it. 

    Looking back out the window, Hesh hid his tears from the team.


	32. Lost

    A week after the Walker sons returned to their base, it had become too late for them to save Eclipse before the brainwashing was complete. Rorke was walking through a rainy jungle, on his way to the hidden pit in the ground, the one he had put Logan in, and now the one he was using to turn Eclipse. When he got to the grate, she was huddled in the corner, mud all over her body. She had been trying to stay warm by using the mud, but it was useless. It was too cold at nights and the rain was making things colder. So when he looked down and asked her if she was ready to give up, and she nodded, that was the moment they had lost Eclipse. Forever, or just for now was unknown. 

    Eclipse watched as Rorke unlocked the grate to where he was keeping her. He stepped back as she climbed out of the hole. The evil grin on his face was pretty much permanent as she bowed her head to him. Like Logan had been, her body was permanently cold. No such warm existed in her body and when she bowed her head, she saw the two tattoos she had. A rose on one wrist and a morning glory on the other. There was no emotion she felt when she saw them, only that they were symbols of what she needed to kill. 

    “My daughter,” Rorke said and Eclipse looked up at him. “Those Ghosts, they took you away from the peaceful life I had wanted you to live. They need to pay and once they are dead, you will be free to live a life without violence. You can be free to choose your own path.” Rorke was determined to keep her under his power, unlike how she had broken Logan. She nodded and he turned around, walking away with a motion for her to follow. She did, although her red hair was matted with mud and her skin was filthy. Her clothes were torn and muddy as well. She didn’t really notice though. 

    Her mind was on nothing but her father, and what her father wanted her to do. So they entered the secret base where he had been torturing her. He let her go into the showers and left her alone. She peeled off the torn shorts and tanktop, standing naked as she turned on the hot water in the shower. The water was scalding hot to try and combat the icy cold water that was running through her veins. It ran over her body, taking much of the surface dirt off her. She scrubbed into her skin, getting all the rest out. But as she was standing there, her mind wandered into the torturing she had just endured. It had been much, much worse than Logan’s had ever gotten to. She had been beaten, as the amount of bruises on her body would show. She had been stabbed and cut many times, as the scars of the blades and healing scabs of blades would show. 

    She put her face up into the water as she thought about the next thing they had done to her. It was the thing that broke her the most. The reason Eclipse had shattered her own will to obey Rorke’s. As she scrubbed at her face, she was trying to wash off the pain of that thing. It was too painful for her to even describe to herself, but she winced as she cleaned down her legs, her body sore and in pain. But it was dulled compared to what the pain she had been constantly put through. 

    When she looked up, she saw two men standing in the doorway of the shower, but they didn’t look like they were really there. She rubbed at her eyes, the water running over them as she squinted towards the two men. They were both in black masks with something white painted on the masks. She stepped out of the water, rubbing her eyes as she tried to clear her vision. The two men were wearing Ghosts masks and she knew those masks quite well.

    Logan. Hesh. She snarled and growled at them. When she stepped closer, they seemed to vanish and appear a few steps away from the shower. She saw that her weapons had been placed outside the shower and she picked up her combat knife, going after the two men, but when she got close to them again, they disappeared and reappeared behind her, moving into the shower, so she followed them back in. They were back against the wall, behind the still running water. She snarled and rushed at them with the knife, but she was surprised to hit the wall, the knife clattering to the floor. She could hear their voices.

    “You’re weak, Eclipse. You broke to Rorke’s will. How could I ever love you? You were supposed to be stronger than me,” Logan’s voice was whispering in her ear and she turned, not seeing them, but dark shadows around her. 

    “I seduced you so easily. How could you ever think that I was actually attracted to you? You’re worthless and pathetic,” Hesh’s voice was whispering. Their words were bringing Eclipse to tears and she fell to her knees.

    “SHUT UP!!!” she screamed, the tears falling from her face. The words kept echoing in her ears, demeaning her. She took the knife from the ground, looking up and seeing the two men standing in the doorway, their masks off and disgusted looks on their faces. Eclipse felt her body rack in sobs as she threw the knife at them, but the knife simply hit the wall and fell to the floor. She was on her knees under the scalding hot water, crying.

    Little did she know, Rorke was just outside the showers, smiling evilly. It had worked perfectly. The food he had been feeding her was poisoned, giving her hallucinations and all that time in the hole had brought her body temperature dangerously low, so her body couldn’t fight off the toxins. Her mind was poisoned and while he had been torturing her, he had men dress up like Walker sons to toy with her mind. While she was being poisoned, they had manipulated the men’s voices to their own interests, playing those words to Eclipse over and over again while she was being beaten or was unconscious. The words had seeped into her soul and she believed that the Walkers hated her now, so she was a broken, hateful mess. More so since he had the men that dressed up like the Walkers abuse her…..in more ways than one. 

    Eclipse looked up, seeing the shadows finally gone. She stood up, seeing her gleaming knife outside the shower. She stepped over, picking the sharp blade up and looking at the reflection in the silver. She saw both men’s faces and she frowned. They were the weak ones. She was the strong one. How dare they mess with her heart? Neither one loved her, she was just a toy to them. She looked at the tattoos on her wrists and she took the blade to them, cutting her skin on the flowers, forever changing them to be scarred, unlike what they used to be. She then put her arms under the water, washing away the blood that seeped from the wounds. 

    “I’m going to make them pay. They’re both going to die by my hand,” Eclipse promised herself, her magnificent sky blue eyes now darkened with the storm inside her heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This matches up with the very first two paragraphs of my story, where "sometime in the future" a girl gives up her will to Rorke. This was the plot twist that was hinted at from the very beginning. I hope you enjoy watching Eclipse's next few steps..... ;)


	33. Attacked

    Hesh was walking through the base, silent and sullen. He hadn’t said a word since they had gotten done with the oil rig mission looking for Eclipse. All of Rorke’s communications had stopped since they took out his last leader of the Federation. He was completely off the grid and Hesh was losing his mind. He knew they were running out of time to save Eclipse, it had been two weeks since that mission and Rorke was probably close to completing his brainwashing of his darling Eclipse.  
    While he was lost in thoughts, his feet brought him to Eclipse’s room again. It was still untouched from how she had left it before that last mission they had together. When Hesh pushed open the door, however, he would find his brother sitting on her bed, looking at the drawing she had made of the three of them standing together in civilian clothing. The pages afterward were blank, meaning that this one was the last she had made. Logan looked up when hearing his brother enter and Logan looked away, wiping his face on his arm, hiding the tears from his older brother.  
    Hesh wanted to turn around and leave, let Logan be alone with his thoughts, but he couldn’t move. He just gazed around the room, the pictures of evil Logan still hanging up on her desk, the files she had been reading were a mess of papers all around the room. Then he spotted something he had never noticed before. The closet was slightly open, and there was a green sparkle in the darkness. He walked over, gently opening the closet door and seeing a green sparkling dress hanging there. His eyes widened in surprise, not knowing that Eclipse had possessed such a dress. Then he glanced to the inside of the door, where there were more pictures than he had thought.  
    Many of them were simple pictures, of objects or nature. But there was one that he was intrigued about. Eclipse in the green dress, with matching makeup and red lipstick. She was winking and blowing a kiss at the camera and there was a small sheet of paper attached. “Blowing a kiss to all those that want to bring me down.” was what it read and Hesh chuckled softly. That sounded like something she would say and that dress was perfect for it. He could feel his body wanting to respond, but he also felt his heart tighten in his chest. He glanced over at Logan still staring at the drawing. So he stepped closer to the closet, his hand stealthily moving up and taking that picture, hiding in his jacket. He simply wanted it, a picture where she was actually dressed up and not in her armor.  
    “What did I do to her?” Logan said, startling Hesh slightly. Hesh stepped away from the closet, closing the door softly.  
    “What do you mean?” Hesh asked him, despite knowing what Logan meant well enough.  
    “I hurt her, that much I can remember. I broke her when I was under Rorke’s spell,” Logan muttered. “I tried to kill her.” With this, Hesh felt inwardly surprised, but he didn’t say anything. Eclipse had never said this to him. “Rorke made me put one bullet in a revolver and I spun the chamber, clicking it into place and pulling back the hammer. When he told me to fire, I did. Luckily, it was an empty chamber, but I saw the pain in her eyes.” Logan put the picture down, putting his face in his hands. “I saw her heart shatter from my actions.”  
    Hesh couldn’t say anything to that. That must have been why Eclipse had gotten so close to him after they rescued her. She was broken hearted and finally had given up on Logan, instead, letting her attraction grow towards Hesh. He wanted to say that Eclipse was still in love with him, but….Hesh had his doubts about that, since she hadn’t really talked about Logan since she had been with Hesh.  
    “You did hurt her. She barely spoke a word all those months after that,” Hesh eventually muttered out. “She wouldn’t tell me about it, but I could see the pain in her and the sadness. I didn’t know what to tell her that would help her with it.” Logan looked over at Hesh, sighing.  
    “Yes…...I know. I heard you two were close friends. Thank you for taking care of her, Hesh, it really does mean a lot to me,” Logan said and Hesh had to turn around, resisting the urge to puke from the twisting in his stomach. But as he turned around, Merrick and the rest of the Ghosts came dashing to the doorway. Merrick was holding a tablet and the rest of them looked wild-eyed.  
    “Eclipse…..” was all Merrick was able to mutter out and Hesh heard Logan quickly stand, coming up behind him as Merrick handed the tablet over to Hesh. Hesh clicked on the video link that was open and started watching, his eyes widening and his heart clenching.  
    The video feed was of an American base down in Brazil. The place was being attacked and the camera they were watching was of the command room. The commander of the base was standing there, looking confused as a masked figure walked up to him. The figure was wearing what looked like Eclipse’s uniform and there was a sniper on her back, combat knife on her hip. The commander was saying something and the figure stopped in front of him. In a moment’s notice, the figure had the knife in the commander’s throat, dropping him to the floor before pulling it out, blood dripping off the blade. Then the figure looked straight at the camera. In the next motion, the figure’s hand was up, pulling down Eclipse’s hood on her uniform.  
    A dark red haired woman stood there, an evil smile on her face as she stared at the camera. That was when Hesh felt Logan grasping his arm, seeing his younger brother shaking his head from the corner of his sight.  
    “No, that’s not real. That’s not Eclipse. Rorke is toying with us,” Logan whispered softly, but even he could see the truth. Eclipse looked down at the command terminal, typing something in and that’s when an alarm started going off at the base the Ghosts were at.  
    “Eclipse is launching the missiles at this base from that one,” Merrick said, realizing it as he ran quickly down the hallway with the other Ghosts right behind him. Hesh gripped the tablet and Logan felt like he couldn’t move. But within another few seconds, both men were running down the hallway as well, going straight to the armory. Eclipse was getting ready to attack the base they were at and she was going to use the missiles to prep her arrival, making sure that they would all be weak by the time she arrived.  
    Hesh looked back down at the tablet, seeing that Eclipse had finished typing into the command console and she bashed her gun into the screen, so that no one could mess with her work. She looked back up at the camera, her once bright blue eyes were dark. She walked closer, so that Hesh could see the healing cuts on her face and neck. She stared into the lens, knowing that he was watching. She smiled evilly again and winked, blowing a kiss at the camera before raising her arm, aiming the pistol at the camera and shooting it out.  
    She was blowing a kiss to those who wished to bring her down. And clearly she thought that was Hesh and Logan.


End file.
